Ultimate Sonic Meets Star Wars
by JerichoRaccoon941
Summary: A collaboration between me and FirebirdPhoenix87. We pooled our ideas, and we created this. In an alternate universe, Mobius is part of the Star Wars Galaxy. Sonic the Hedgehog, Sally Acorn, and their allies find themselves on a new quest that will venture across the Galaxy during the Original Star Wars trilogy, against enemies from both Sonic and Star Wars media.
1. Mobius

**A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...**

 **ULTIMATE SONIC MEETS STAR WARS**

 **Episode IV: A New Hope**

 **It is a period of civil war, Rebel spaceships,**

 **striking from a hidden base, have won**

 **their first victory against the evil**

 **GALACTIC EMPIRE.**

 **On the planet of MOBIUS, the**

 **evil ruler, DR. IVO ROBOTNIK,**

 **is preparing one of the greatest**

 **weapons he has ever devised, one**

 **that will allow him to rule over all.**

 **The resistance group, the FREEDOM**

 **FIGHTERS, led by Sonic the Hedgehog**

 **and Sally Acorn, desperately try to rise up**

 **against the sinister doctor to stop his plan**

 **and save their people and planet, unaware**

 **their own destiny is beginning...**

 **Chapter 1: Mobius**

 _"ETA, Planet Mobius, thirty seconds,"_ said a droid shuttle pilot.

On the edge of the Mid-Rim of the Galaxy, a lone shuttle began its entry into a brown-tinted piece of atmosphere of the planet Mobius, flying past its crystalline blue rings, and into its largest city.

 _"Preparing for final approach to Mobotropolis,"_ said the pilot droid.

Mobotropolis, the largest city of Mobius, and it's capital city, appeared through the thick smog, with its tall buildings just peering through the top, and giving little sunlight to the streets, lined with garbage and scrap metal. The shuttle flew over the river, the smell of sludge in the air, and security droids lining the streets, keeping any trouble free. Aboard the shuttle, was the man responsible for all this.

 _"Five seconds to landing, Doctor Robotnik,"_ said the droid.

"Ah...it's so good to be home. I do miss the beauty of this place while I'm away," said Doctor Robotnik.

The shuttle flew towards the tallest tower in Mobotropolis, the Citadel tower. As the shuttle approached it's landing platform, a large squad of droids stood ready to recieve their leader, led by a diminutive human, who bowed his head as Robotnik exited the shuttle.

"Good morning, Doctor Robotnik. I trust your trip was exciting?"

"Shut up, Snively," said Dr. Robotnik.

Snively grumpily followed Robotnik inside the Citadel, and into it's central command center. Snively then headed for the control panel as Robotnik took his seat.

"I am pleased to report that the project is on schedule, sir. We have completed tests, and we've performed test on the substance as you've requested," said Snively.

"Good. I trust the substance performs as expected?" said Robotnik.

"See for yourself, sir,"

Snively activated a screen which showed a test chamber with a flower garden. He then pushed another button as Robotnik watched. The chamber began to fill with a green haze. Seconds passed, and the flowers slowly began to dissolve as quickly as they would burn. Within seconds, the flowers were no more.

"Excellent! Excellent! The formula has indeed been perfected, Snively! Our efforts are a success. We must begin mass production right away. Our project depends on it. And once it comes to fruition, we'll finally be able to destroy...that Hedgehog," said Robotnik.

Snively beamed in delight in bowed, but when he turned around, his expression turned to disgust, as he looked back at his Uncle. He then went back to work.

On one of the main roads outside the city limits, a fifteen-year old Blue Hedgehog stretched his limbs, and hopped a few times to warm himself up. He then started to run, and began to gather speed, running at the average road speed of a vehicle. He ran down the road until he reached some buildings, starting to run up the side of the walls, until he hopped off to a stop atop a roof. Reaching into his backpack, producing some electrobinoculars, he began to watch for something. He tapped his foot until at last, he saw his target; a convoy of speeder craft. He leapt down, reaching into his backpack again, producing a small object which he then placed on the ground, pushing a few buttons on it. He then hastily covered it with dirt and retreated back to the roof, crouching down. He tapped his fingers as the convoy slowly moved toward his trap. Soon, the lead vehicle crossed over the trap, and it exploded, sending the lead vehicle flying forwards, landing upside down, and the others swerved to avoid crashing, but they were unable to slow down in time, hitting each other and the sides of buildings. The hedgehog looked delighted.

"Aw, yeah! This is happening!"

Squads of SWAT Bot droids, hustling out of the vehicles, began searching for whoever caused this pileup. The hedgehog began to rev himself up, his feet appeared to be running in a perfect figure-8. He dashed forwards, smashing through any droids in his way.

 _"Priority One Hedgehog! Priority One Hedgehog! Sector Eleven! Repeat, Priority One Hedgehog, Sector Eleven!"_ said the SWAT Bot Commander.

"Sonic? Sonic, you ready?" said a voice on the communicator on his wrist.

"I'm here, Sally. Are you, Bunnie, Rotor, and Antoine all ready?" said Sonic.

Not far from where Sonic was, behind the wrecked convoy, we see the rest of his team, Princess Sally Acorn, Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine D'Coolette, and Rotor Walrus, preparing to spring into action themselves.

"We're ready, Sonic. Rotor, Bunnie, are you ready with those bombs on that derelict tower?" said Sally.

"We're ready, Sally. When this tower comes down, it'll prevent them from retreating, and slow down reinforcements. That should buy you some time. Charges set on your end, Bunnie?" said Rotor.

"Just about...all done! Let 'er rip, sugah!" said Bunnie.

"GET CLEAR!" said Rotor.

Rotor detonated the bombs, and with an explosion at the base, the tower began to tip over, landing on top of one of the straggling transports, crushing it and blocking the road. Bunnie then began to rev up her robotic left arm for a punch, which she administered to a few SWAT Bots trying to get out of the wrecked transport.

"Y'all got company comin' in, Sally-girl!" said Bunnie.

"I see them, Bunnie. Come on, Antoine," said Sally.

"Oui, oui! EEK! There are so many of them!" said Antoine.

"Quit twiddling your thumbs and keep moving! We only got one shot at this! Sonic, you need to keep them busy," said Sally.

"No problem! They couldn't hit the broadside of a tower, even if they tried!" said Sonic.

Sally and Antoine climbed atop the middle vehicle of the convoy, which was a tanker. When they got on top it, Antoine began to open the hatch on top of the tanker, while Sally produced a small pump and tube.

"My Princess, we are going to all this trouble just for a little vial?" said Antoine.

"Not just any little vial, it's a vial full of something that I hope isn't for real," said Sally.

Antoine finished opening the hatch and Sally inserted the tube into the fluid that was in the tanker. She then turned the pump on, and a green liquid began to flow into a vial on the pump. Antoine then looked up.

"Look out!"

A group of flying "Buzzbomber" droids arrived to try and stop them. Antoine hastily pulled his vibrosword, swinging it at them, but they easily dodged his swings, except for one, which lost an engine to his slash attempt. The droid flew out of control, flying around until it began to head straight for them.

"EEK! It is going to be crashing!" said Antoine.

But it never did. The Buzzbomber was blown up by Sonic's jump attack, and Sonic landed atop the tanker.

"Will you chill, Antoine? At this rate, you'll alert the whole city faster than I can!" said Sonic.

"I am chilling. I will not be for done!" said Antoine.

"'Done for,' Antoine. And Sonic, we're almost done. Just hold them off a little bit longer," said Sally.

"Sal, I could do this with my eyes closed. Just keep 'em coming and I'll keep on trashing," said Sonic.

"Yes, yes...keep them coming and trashing," said Antoine.

"'Thrashing,' not 'trashing,' Antoine," said Sally.

As Sonic kept the Buzzbombers off Sally and Antoine, Rotor and Bunnie were busy fending off SWAT Bots coming out of the other transports.

"Aw man, I wish Sally would hurry up. I got some heavy stuff waiting to be used!" said Rotor.

"Ah'm sho' she's goin' as fast as she can! You know Sally-girl! Speakin' of, are ya sho' that 'surprise' ain't gonna kill us when we're high-tailin' it outta heah, Rotor?" said Bunnie.

"You're talking to the guy who built it, Bunnie," said Rotor.

Rotor shot down a Buzzbomber and a SWAT Bot with his blaster, while Bunnie punched holes in SWAT Bots left and right, using one as a makeshift projectile, throwing it into a group of SWAT Bots.

"Sally-girl, tell me y'all are just about done! We're gettin' overwhelmed heah!" said Bunnie.

"Just a second...Got it! Alright, Bunnie, Rotor, and Sonic, cover us!" said Sally.

She and Antoine, after making sure the vial was safely secured, began to climb down.

"Oh yeah, just what I wanted to hear," said Rotor.

Rotor then reached into his bag, producing several grenade-shaped devices and handed one each to Bunnie and Sonic.

"You're gonna love these new grenades, they've been specially equipped with the spores of those metal-eating plants we found a while back," said Rotor.

"Metal-eating? Well what better time to test these babies out than right now?" said Sonic.

Sonic then ran ahead towards a few platoons of SWAT Bots, and stood atop one of the transports.

"Listen, it's been fun hanging out with you hideous bolt-for-brains, but I gotta juice! Oh, I almost forgot! I got a nice little 'parting gift' for you all!"

Sonic then armed and threw the grenade at the platoons of SWAT Bots, then ran off. The grenades released a gas that began to dissolve the SWAT Bots and Buzzbombers metal parts, turning them to dust. Bunnie meanwhile, approached another group of SWAT Bots.

"Ah know y'all wanted to rodeo with us some more, but we got othah plans!"

She then tossed her grenade at the SWAT Bots and began following Sonic.

"Sorry folks, but I'm happy being me!" said Rotor.

Rotor then threw his grenade at the other SWAT Bots, and followed Bunnie and Sonic, as they rushed to join Sally and Antoine. They then retreated back into the forest nearby, where the SWAT Bots couldn't chase them due to the thick brush. Sonic was enjoying himself at the success of the mission.

"Hey, Rote, any chance you can make any more of those grenades? Or at least make land mine versions of them? Because I'm the only just getting warmed up. Alright! Yeah!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, we gotta get back to Knothole before they regroup. Besides, we got what we came for," said Sally.

"What exactly is that stuff in that lil' ol' vial, Sally?" said Bunnie.

"Yeah, I was about to ask the same question. Why go to all this trouble for that little vial of...whatchamacallit?" said Sonic.

"I dunno. But we'll find out soon enough." said Sally.


	2. The Freedom Fighters

**Chapter 2: The Freedom Fighters**

Deep within the Great Forest, well beyond the Mobotropolis city limits, was the Freedom Fighters' headquarters, located in the secret village of Knothole. Outside the large main hut, we see three younger Mobians and junior members of the Freedom Fighters; Miles "Tails" Prower, Amy Rose, and Cream the Rabbit. Amy turned and looked at the returning senior Freedom Fighters.

"They're back!" said Amy.

"Hey, Sonic!" said Tails.

Tails ran up to his idol, hi-fiving him.

"Hey Tails. I got good news and bad news."

"What news, Mr. Sonic?" said Cream.

"Chao?" said Cheese, Cream's Chao friend.

"Well, the good news is that the mission's a success. The bad news is that we had to leave early. Was having too much fun trashin' bots back there," said Sonic.

"That's my Sonic!" said Amy.

"Uh, Amy, that's close enough," said Sonic.

"Why?" said Amy.

"How intense was it, Sonic?" said Tails.

"It was SEISMIC! Ambushed the convoy and took down an ol' tower to hold 'em off! Managed to get a sample of something but I was far from done! Needed to meet my quota for today." said Sonic.

"That's amazing, Mr. Sonic!" said Cream.

"Amazing? How about 'radical' or 'incredible'!" said Sonic.

"Yes, yes, it was most incredible, I am especially doing the most grand, ze buzzing bombers were no match for-"

"Antoine, everyone could see how bad you were with your aim for miles away!"

"Excuse moi! I am most capable of dealing with-"

"Antoine, Sonic, do y'all always need to debate over the mission?" said Bunnie.

"Begging your pardon, Bunnie, but Sonic has no respect for my ability to thrash ze enemy," said Antoine.

"Again, it's 'trash', Antoine. And Sonic was distracting the SWAT Bots the entire time," said Bunnie.

"Yep, and managed to trash about 1,138 SWAT Bots in the process. And my quota is 1,991! All by myself too!" said Sonic.

"Wow, Sonic, I didn't know you kept count!" said Tails.

"You must have a very good memory, Mr. Sonic," said Cream.

"Well, it's an old habit I pictured up since I trashed so many bots over the years," said Sonic.

"That's why you're so amazing, Sonic!" said Amy.

"Uh, thanks, Amy," said Sonic.

"Everyone! Come quick!" said Sally.

"What is it, my princess?" said Antoine.

"What gives?" said Sonic.

"Did ya find anythin', Sally-girl?" said Bunnie.

"Rotor and I did...this is not good," said Sally.

They followed Sally inside Rotor's workshop, Rotor was preparing something on the table.

"What's up, Rote? You look like you've seen a ghost," said Sonic.

"A ghost can't do what this stuff can do, Sonic," said Rotor.

"Rotor and I have been running tests on the chemical we recovered. It's an extremely acidic compound, nothing like anything I've ever seen before. When we tested it, we discovered that it's acidic enough to dissolve anything that's organic. Plants, animals, bacteria, you name it," said Sally.

"That's impossible. Is it?" said Tails.

"Show them, Rotor," said Sally.

Rotor reached for a flower pot, and then placed it in a sealed chamber. He then grabbed a dropper, and then reached in, using it to pick up some of the chemical. He then slowly opened the chamber, and put a few drops on the flower. He closed the chamber again, jus as the flower began to hiss and smoke from the chemical reaction.

"No way!" said Sonic.

Bunnie, Amy, and even Cream gasped and put their hands over their mouths and backed away a bit. Antoine coughed in disgust. The flower slowly dissolved, right down to the soil. By the time the haze cleared, the flower was gone, and the soil was dry and solid.

"Robotnik can't be for real! I mean, if he's planning to spread this stuff all over the planet, there'll be nothing left to rule over," said Amy.

"Amy's right, sounds like a no-win situation to me," said Sonic.

"Not quite," said Sally.

"I ran a chemical analysis of this stuff, it looks like there's minute traces of a base chemical that prevents it from reacting to any kind of inorganic material. Watch." said Rotor.

Rotor picked up some more chemicals with the dropper, and then dropped one drop on the metal table.

"It is doing nothing to zat table." said Antoine.

"I don't get it either, Antoine." said Sonic.

"What I'm saying is, it looks like this chemical is a weapon. It dissolves anything organic, anything non-organic would be unaffected. In theory, it sounds like Robotnik is planning to use this stuff to clear us out and leave the resources behind to claim." said Rotor.

Sally pulled out a small handheld device, her A.I. unit, NICOLE.

"NICOLE, can this chemical be delivered in a gaseous form?" said Sally.

 _"Negative, Sally. The chemical appears to only be potent enough in liquid form. When the chemical evaporates into the air, it appears to quickly dissipate. But in large quanities, with proper weaponization, could yield great damage,"_ said NICOLE.

"Lethal, weaponized or not. Just a small drop could disentigrate your hand or part of your arm, but in large quantities...NICOLE, damage estimate if delivered via bomb?" said Rotor.

 _"Calculating. Estimate complete. Anywhere from 25% to 100% of planet's organic population could be wiped out in less than five minutes,"_ said NICOLE.

"And we'd have little defense or warning, Robotnik could kill millions if he can weaponize this chemical." said Sally.

"Assuming he 'is' developing such a weapon, he'd make the planet uninhabitable." said Sonic.

 _"Further calculations indicate one bomb would destroy approximately an entire city sector. Approximately one hundred bombs on a planetary scale would cause total ecosystem collapse,"_ said NICOLE.

"Which means we gotta try and stop Robotnik from mass-producin' any kind of weaponized chemical first chance he gets, otherwise he'll wipe out all organic life on the planet, includin' us, right?" said Bunnie.

"Yeah, but you know we don't have reliable Intel on whether or not he's developing a secret weapon, Bunnie. Robotnik has been too quiet recently, if he was building a weapon, we'd know. NICOLE, identify the facility with the means to mass produce the chemical for any kind of weapons stockpile," said Sally.

 _"Scanning. The Central Chemical Plant on the Silvanus River, scans of blueprints on file indicate a production capability capable of producing anywhere from one thousand to five thousand gallons of the chemical a day, before and after variables,"_ said NICOLE.

"The central chemical plant on the Silvanus. I always hated that eyesore," said Rotor.

"Oui, it is an offense to the good visibility of ze sun rising," said Antoine.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's trash it right now! Tails and I went on a run through that ol' chem plant," said Sonic.

"Not so fast, Sonic. We can't just destroy it. There's risk. If we destroy it the wrong way, the chemicals will spill all over the place. It could risk lighting the river up, or the chemicals will spill into the slums, potentially killing people," said Sally.

"Aw come on, Sal. Waiting and planning is boring. Where's the fun in figuring it out as we go, facing danger head-on?" said Sonic.

"Just let NICOLE and I work on a plan. We'll have something for you guys later," said Sally.

The Freedom Fighters went about their business in Knothole for much of the day. They were gathered outside the command hut later that evening.

"That chemical was scary, Miss Amy. Is Robotnik gonna make us melt like that flower?" said Cream.

"Chao, Chao?" said Cheese.

"I hope not, Cream. Hopefully we'll find a way to stop Robotnik from distributing it or making it before he has a chance to do so. But you're right about one thing; that chemical is scary. Right, Cheese?" said Amy.

"Chao..." said Cheese.

Amy shuddered with fear at the prospect, and Antoine was even more freaked out, Bunnie noticed this and tried to calm him down.

"Antoine, relax, will ya? Robotnik ain't done nothin' yet, we still got time to stop it," she said.

"I know, I know, but I am, how do you say it...afearing?" said Antoine.

"You mean 'afraid', Antoine. Ah know you're afraid, but we ain't got time to be intimidated now. We either stop him while we still can or we end up dust. And if we fail, no one is comin' to save us," said Bunnie.

"Yeah, I only hope we're not too late to stop Robotnik or what he's up to," said Rotor.

"We'll stop him! We always do! Right, Sonic?" said Tails.

"Right, Tails! We've seen him try similar sinister stunts before, but we still won! I doubt we won't win this time!" said Sonic.

"Your confidence is as big as your ego," said Antoine.

Sally then came out of the command hut.

"Okay, everyone! We're ready!" she said.

"Finally! Took you long enough, Sal!" said Sonic.

The Freedom Fighters all gathered in the command hut, around the holoprojector, as Sally plugged NICOLE into the projector.

"I couldn't get any reliable intel from our informants and allies, so I had to go with my gut," said Sally.

"Wait, did I hear that right? Someone decided to do things my way? C'mon Sal, say it," said Sonic.

"Yes, Sonic, we'll try it your way, simply because we got nothing better right now, nothing more," said Sally.

"Nuh uh uh. Say 'it,'" said Sonic.

"Oh brothairs..." said Antoine.

"Ah think he wants you to admit he's right, Sally-girl," said Bunnie.

"Yeah, what she said. Say it, Sal! Say it! Come on," said Sonic.

Sally groaned at Sonic's teasing.

"Yes, Sonic. You're right. Your way actually works this time. There, I said it. Happy?"

"Yup!" said Sonic.

Sally then turned to the Holoprojector, as NICOLE's holographic body appeared on the projector to point out the information.

"So anyway, Sonic, you're gonna take point on this mission. We'll follow you in a speeder along the main road. Your job is to clear the way for us. We'll go at night so that way, we can avoid most of the heavy patrols, most of them we'll be changing for routine maintenance. Hopefully, the Egg Shredder won't be around," said Sally.

"Really? They allowed bird legs to be patrolling somewhere else? That's gonna be no fun," said Sonic.

"No, that's good for us, Sonic. Once we get in, we need to destroy the chemical plant at its weak spot in a way to reduce collateral damage. NICOLE?" said Sally.

 _"Scans indicate that if we head for the main control valve, open the valve, and place remote incendiary bombs inside the main pipes leading to the main tanks, the blast will incinerate any hazardous chemicals inside and cause a chain reaction, which should disable the facility's production capabilities,"_ said NICOLE.

"If we can disable this plant, hopefully, it should give us time to gather more intel." said Sally.

"I want to go too, Aunt Sally. I know that place's systems well. They're easy," said Tails.

"No, Tails. It's too dangerous," said Sally.

"Aw, come on, Aunt Sally!" said Tails.

"C'mon, Sal, he's been eager to help us for years! Give him a chance, will ya? He's also built a new device to mask us from SWAT Bot sensors with Rotor's help!" said Sonic.

"Yeah! It works!" said Tails.

"He's right, Sal. It really does," said Rotor.

"Sonic, he's ten years old," said Sally.

"Sally, I've been helping with misisons since I was ten years old!" said Sonic.

"Uh huh, right. Without permission," said Sally.

"And we got this far, didn't we? You going to keep him here until he's fifteen? Ever heard the phrase 'learn by doing', Saly? That's what I've been doing my whole life. 'Learn by doing,'" said Sonic.

"Fine! You be responsible for him!" said Sally.

"Alright!" said Tails.

Sonic hi-fived Tails.

"Stick close to me and we'll do fine, little buddy," said Sonic.

"What about me?" said Amy.

"Sorry Amy, you're staying here again. I'm not gonna have two junior members on a mission this risky," said Sally.

Amy simply pouted and crossed her arms.

"Awww, but I wanted to help smash some bots with my Piko Hammer," said Amy.

"I'm sorry, but you'll get your chance soon enough," said Sally.

"Alright, Sal. When do we leave?" said Rotor.

"Late tonight. Get some rest. It's gonna be a long night. In the meantime, I'm gonna contact our allies, let them know of our next move, hopefully, I can get some support," said Sally.

Sonic stood up.

"Alright, I'm gonna make a few chili dogs and I'm gonna-"

"Slow down, sugah hog. Y'all need your rest, right, Sally-girl?" said Bunnie.

"Right, Bunnie. Everyone, be ready by 2000 hours," said Sally.

"I'll help Rotor with the speeder, it's time to help put my invention to the test," said Tails.

"Sure thing, Tails, let's get to it," said Rotor.

As the Freedom Fighters were planning their mission, deep inside the slums of Mobotropolis, in the basement of a flophouse, a male Mobian goat, tied up and with a sack on his head, was in the company of three Mobian Raccoons, two males and a female, and a male Falcon and Skunk.

"Up and at 'em, Chris ol' boy. We have a lot to talk about."

"What? Who are you? You're not gonna kill me, are you? I got money! I'll pay you whatever you want!"

Chris then had his mask taken off, so he could see his captors, the older male raccoon and the male skunk.

"Aw, Chris, how could you forget so quickly? How could you forget me? Me, Jericho Raccoon. How typical of you rich people on Robotnik's blacklist. That may protect you from roboticization..."

"...But it ain't gonna protect you from us, mate, or from anything that results of our meeting."

"Listen, I just did what I had to do to survive! I didn't mean to make you mad, Mr. Raccoon, sir!" said Chris.

"You're a special kind of stupid, ain't you, mate?" said the skunk.

"You know my colleague, Commander Geoffrey St. John. You're also already acquainted with my brother Dayton, and my friend, Derek here. And my dear sister Milena, needs no introduction," said Jericho.

Dayton stood up, cracking his knuckles and neck, like he was ready to pick a fight.

"Not yet, Dayton. We'll start this chat like gentlemen, right, Geoffrey?" said Jericho.

"Right, Jericho. We'll let you experience your ex's wrath later, Chris. There are a few things we want to know about." said Geoffrey.

"I don't know anything! I'm just a guy living off a trust fund! I swear! I really don't know anything!" said Chris.

Jericho stood behind Chris, and unhooked him from the hook, but placed Chris' right hand in his powerful prosthetic right hand.

"Mr. St. John here is gonna ask you some questions about your factories. Excuse me, Robotnik's factories. You know, the ones he asks you to turn a blind eye to the stuff he builds in there. For every wrong answer, my good hand is gonna make your good hand useless, finger, by finger, you understand?" said Jericho.

Chris simply looked towards Milena, the younger female Mobian Raccoon sitting in a chair across the room, holding a datapad.

"Milena, baby, whatever I've done, no hard feelings, right? We can still work this out! I can get you anything you want, even blacklist protection! Right? Right?" said Chris.

Milena coldly looked up at Chris, the icy glare of her brown eyes staring into his.

"I don't normally sit in on interrogations, Chris. My brothers and their friends have a bit of a messy style. But considering this is the second time you've tried to have me captured and thrown to the rancors, I'm making an exception. Make him cry like the baby he is, Jericho. But remember..."

"I know, he won't die," said Jericho.

Geoffrey began walking back and forth as the interrogation began.

"Now, we know your family owns a few of the factories in Mobotropolis. Robotnik manufactures all sorts of things, a few of them are for Robotnik's 'friends.' You're aware of them, yes? Do you know which ones his friends use?" said Geoffrey.

Robotnik doesn't have any friends. He just sits in that Citadel tower and orders us around. As for the factories, he's just building materials needed for-"

"You didn't pay attention to what my friend here said. Any wrong answer..."

Jericho then responded by breaking one of Chris fingers. Chris screamed in pain as his finger was rendered useless by Jericho's powerful prosthetic.

"C'mon, Chris. You're not even trying to lie here," said Milena.

"Gimme a break here!" said Chris.

"I seriously hope you weren't making a pun, Chris. You're rich as is, you can buy yourself a break, or you can fix all those broken fingers, or buy some prosthetic ones, like my big brother has," said Milena.

"Moving on, what materials do your factories produce? Why do Robotnik's friends need them?" said Geoffrey.

"We produce raw materials for farming. As part of the Stell Viridius rehabilitation efforts!" said Chris.

"Wrong again. Stell Viridius has no open farming rehab projects at this time," said Milena.

"And according to intel we have on file, Robotnik has no operations in that sector. That factory you referred to produces SWAT Bots that patrol the streets to look for "insurgents", and the people who aren't Roboticized get little to no pay, no food, no livelihood except for your lot," said Geoffrey.

Jericho this time broke two fingers on Chris' hand.

"I swear! We work to produce rehabilitation materials for farming rehab projects on Stell Viridius!" said Chris.

"Still lying," said Jericho.

"Okay, my turn," said Dayton.

Dayton traded places with Jericho. He crouched down to look Chris in the face.

"Hi, Chris. My name is Dayton Raccoon. I'm Jericho and Milena's less-than-restrained brother."

Dayton then proceeded to give Chris a few punches to the gut.

"That was for betraying my sister."

Dayton then punched him again, this time right in the face.

"That was for harassing her. There, that's all."

"Hey! Watch the nose! I just got the hairs inside trimmed! And you realize how much it'll cost me to fix my teeth? And if you mess up my hair, it's coming out of your pay!" said Chris.

"I'm not getting paid by anybody you control. It's my turn to be the bad cop here." said Dayton.

Dayton then slowly extended a long metal blade mounted on his forearm, freaking Chris out with its sheer size and length. He then spoke again.

"The factory by the chemical plant produces materials to...uh...build light freighters for the Corellian Engineering Corporation!"

"Keep lying, windbag. Those materials don't look like they go on any Corellian ship I've seen." said Derek.

"Let's see...what should I cut up, Geoffrey?" said Dayton.

"He needs a trim, does he? I've seen other sheep like him with better hairstyles," said Geoffrey.

"NO! NOT THE HAIR! IT COST ME A THOUSAND!" said Chris.

But Dayton wasted no time shearing off Chris' hair cut with both his wrist blades like butter.

"NO! MY HAIR! MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR!" said Chris.

"Oh shut up. Buzzcuts are nice, I should know," said Dayton.

Chris responded by spitting in Dayton's face.

"I spit on you and your harlot of a sister!" he said.

"You always did have atrocious haircuts, Chris. Keep up the humiliation, Dayton," said Milena.

"Chris, you're only making this harder on yourself," said Dayton.

Dayton then took off Chris' jacket, examining it.

"This looks expensive," said Dayton.

"No! Very few can get a jacket with that quality!" said Chris.

But his words fell on deaf ears, as Derek stepped up and spit on the jacket with great contempt.

"Not anymore," Derek said.

"It needs a restyling, looks way more atrocious than your damn hair," Dayton said.

Then, extending one of his wrist blades, he began to cut the jacket up like a piece of paper mache.

"You monstrous infidels! You lot are a cancer in this Galaxy! This is why you must be put in your place! This is why our great leader is in the right! You ruin everything we've worked so hard to earn!" Chris said.

By now, Chris' whining had given Derek cause to grab a single container and place it in front of Chris. Chris could see the words " **HAZARDOUS** " written on it.

"NO! NO, NO, PLEASE!"

"Take a guess what's in the container. Come on!" said Derek.

"You know what? I think he wants to know what's in it, Derek. He really wants us to show him," said Dayton.

"You see, we collect all sorts of things, Chris. Including the stuff your factories dump in our water, making our beloved Silvanus River smell like sludge and make it flow like ooze," said Jericho.

Jericho then opened the container, which was full of a green slimy substance.

"NO! KEEP THAT STUFF AWAY FROM ME! IT'S TOXIC!" said Chris.

"Well, gee, how do you know that? Must've come from your factories!" said Derek.

"Have you seen what that stuff does to people's faces, Chris?" said Milena.

"Shut up, you harlot!" said Chris.

"I can make it stop, if you tell us which factory of yours is operated by Robotnik's friends, then you won't have to find out," said Geoffrey.

Chris struggled as Derek and Dayton began to force his head down, towards the slime.

"NO! NO, PLEASE!" said Chris.

"Five..." said Jericho.

"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

"Four..." said Dayton.

"I just go to parties and pick up women, that's all! I don't have any part in my factories' operations!"

"Three..." said Derek.

"Robotnik has powerful friends! Friends who can make anything happen!"

"Two..." said Geoffrey.

"OH PLEASE, NO! NOT MY FACE! IT'S NOT JUST THAT I'M WORRIED ABOUT!"

"One..." said Milena.

"NO! OKAY! OKAY! THE CENTRAL PART OF TOWN! INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT! THEY MAKE THE STARSHIP HULL PLATING FOR THEM! THAT'S ALL I KNOW!"

But despite this result, Derek began to snarl, his bracelets glowing a blood red, and began grabbing Chris' neck, forcing him into their container, head first.

"Well, let's see how toxic it is, you selfish son of a-!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?!" said Geoffrey.

Chris struggled, but against Derek's strength, his struggles were futile, and he went face first into the slime, scattering it all over the place. But nothing happened. No hissing, no melting, no nothing. Geoffrey picked some off his bandolier with his finger, and placed the stuff in his mouth, and he slowly began to smile and laugh, as did everyone else, save for Chris.

"Gelatin? Wow, you lot almost got me there! Chris, mate, you really couldn't tell the difference between gelatin and toxic waste? Wow, no wonder Milena never came back to you. You're more of a wuss than we thought! Wow!" said Geoffrey.

"MY HAIR, MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR, AND YOU'VE RUINED MY SUIT!" said Chris.

"Oh shut up, you're one mistake I don't have to live with. I wanted to see you scream like the baby you are," said Milena.

"You thought I was literally going to just end your life right there? I wouldn't have done it if they didn't tell me what was inside. You Robuttnik sympathizers make me sick; selling out your loved ones just to save your own skin?" said Derek.

"You'd do the same given the choice! I hope your father chokes to death on this!" said Chris.

Chris had spit on Derek, and without warning, Derek's rage flared up again. and he proceeded to grab Chris' neck, and began to slam him against the wall a few times.

"Never talk about my father like that, you worthless piece of scum!"

"Restrain him!" said Geoffrey.

He and Dayton grabbed Derek, while Jericho, placing a metallic glove on his right hand, proceeded to press his gloved hand against Derek's ear. Derek began to hear a kind of soothing white noise in his ear, and Derek's rage began to cool, eventually, he calmed down and his bracelets returned to their blue azure color.

"Derek, that's enough. Let's not get inhumane here," said Jericho.

"Just keep that monster away from me! I beg of you!" said Chris.

"Now, listen good, Chris. Stay away from my sister. I've only known her for the better part of three years, but I will not have her taken from me now. Call, or send any more people after her again, and next time...Dayton will be the one to come after you, not me," said Jericho.

Dayton simply waved innocently.

"You terrorists are evil! All of you!" said Chris.

"Who said we're terrorists?" said Milena.

"Derek?" said Jericho.

"Yeah?" said Derek.

"Take him home. In one piece," said Jericho.

"It'll cost you double to guarantee his safety," said Derek.

"Derek, safely. No more, no less," said Jericho.

"Fine." said Derek.

Derek began to pick Chris up and carry him over his shoulder.

"Put me down, you bloodthirsty monster!" said Chris.

Derek simply responded by punching him in the face, knocking him out cold.

"I get paid well to do this. And at least I don't have to hear anymore hot air coming out of that gaping hole you call a mouth." said Derek.

Jericho walked over to Milena, who had barely even reacted to seeing Chris be tortured.

"See, sis? I can do a humane torture session. If you weren't in here, he'd be in a lot worse shape than he is," said Jericho.

"Chris deserved plenty worse for what he did to me. But when we torture people, we do it humanely, we're not the Empire, who has no restraint. The last thing we need is to make a habit of being inhumane, Jericho," said Milena.

"The gelatin was a nice touch, Milena," said Jericho.

"I worked hard to make it, just for this purpose," said Milena.

"Yeah. Anyway, can we confirm the intel we got from Heartbreaker with the details we got from Chris?" said Jericho.

"Sure can. And while you were busy making Chris scream, I got an e-mail from Sally Acorn. She and her little band are about to make a big play, something about the Central Chemical Plant," said Milena.

"Lemme see," said Jericho.

Jericho picked up the datapad and began to read and compare notes.

"What is it? You look like Robotnik found and exploited one of our informants again," said Geoffrey.

"Look at this, Geoffrey," said Jericho.

Geoffrey came over to read the datapad.

"Oh, you have to be bloody kidding me," said Geoffrey.

"Milena, get me Knothole, ASAP," said Jericho.

"Sure thing," said Milena.


	3. Inferno

**Chapter 3: Inferno**

As the sun set, the Freedom Fighters were gearing up for their mission into Robotropolis. Sonic impatiently stretched his limbs.

"Can we go now? Please? We got a chemical plant that should've been demolished last week!" he said.

"Calm down, Sonic. You really have attitude issues; you know? You could have also cut me some slack back there!" said Sally.

"What? So I was proven right again. What's the big deal?" said Sonic.

"We're a team, Sonic. You need to show a little patience and respect. That attitude will get you in trouble someday," said Sally.

"Sorry, Sal, but patients are for hospitals! We're gonna go into Robo-country, and that makes me itchy!" said Sonic.

 _"Incoming transmission, Sally,"_ said NICOLE.

"Who is it?" said Sally.

 _"Jericho Raccoon. Urgent marked. Private channel."_

"Sonic and I will take it in private." said Sally.

 _"Acknowledged."_

Sonic and Sally went into the command hut, while the other Freedom Fighters stayed outside to finish up.

"Rotor, who is Jericho Raccoon?" said Amy.

"He's the leader of a group of Royal Army soldiers in hiding. He runs it with his brother, and he's affiliated with Geoffrey St. John and his group. They mostly supply us with intel, weapons, and training. He's well trained and he's a good ally. Right, Bunnie?" said Rotor.

"Right, Rotor," said Bunnie.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Sally sealed the command center, and activated the holoprojector, which began to display Jericho in holographic form.

 _"Sonic, Sally."_ he said.

"Whatcha need, Jericho? Wait, don't answer that. Listen, how important is this? We're about to perform a very important operation." said Sonic.

 _"Yeah, I got your message. And listen, I know from what you sent me that this sounds bad, and you want to get on this quickly...but can you please postpone the attack for at least a few more days?"_

"Wait, postpone? Why?" said Sally.

 _"This is a big target we're talking about here. I'm not sure we're ready for the fallout. And besides, I've read your intel, you don't even know what Robotnik is planning, so you sound like you're jumping the gun here."_

"We don't need more intel! Experience has taught me that whenever Robuttnik is making something like this chemical, he's got a superweapon to use it, to wipe us all out for good. And you say it's weak?" said Sonic.

 _"And I'm all for stopping this dreadful weapon, but all I'm asking is, you guys just hold off until we have time to adequately prepare for any retaliation that may come our way after this is pulled off. He may not take too kindly to us hitting something that's really important to him."_

"Jericho, you're not making any sense here. Are you and Geoffrey planning something too? If that's the case, we need to pool our resources here. And we can handle any retaliation Robotnik has left to throw at us," said Sally.

 _"I don't doubt anything you can do, but no, Geoffrey and I aren't working on anything pertaining to this right now. So we're asking you to wait. No, we want you to wait. Trust me on this. Once we've had time on our end, we'll do what we can to help. Jericho, out."_

The transmission ended, leaving Sonic and Sally scratching their heads.

"Do you know what he was talking about?" said Sonic.

"I dunno, but from the look in his eyes, there may have been more to this than he's telling us. Maybe we should postpone," said Sally.

"Sally, what if he's wrong? What if Robotnik already has a weapon ready to unleash that chemical on the Great Forest, or the entire planet? We know he's making it, but not when he's using it. He could be planning to unleash it tomorrow for all we know! The longer we wait, the more likely we're gonna be dead!" said Sonic.

"We don't have enough intel to suggest Robotnik is planning anything, Sonic, just like Jericho said. Besides, if we postpone, maybe we'll have more to work with and we can have a better plan," said Sally.

"Well, what if his plan goes into effect tomorrow or even tonight? Then what are you gonna do? Come up with a 'Plan B'? You said it yourself, we got a golden opportunity to take it out with Bird Legs so far away. What if we only got one chance to take it out? Bird Legs may be assigned to guard the Chemical Plant from us," said Sonic.

"Sonic, what if-"

"Sally, listen to me. Remember when you decided to listen to your gut like I do? Well, what does it tell you now?"

"That...we should act now, and pray we get intel on what Robotnik is planning," said Sally.

"See? That wasn't so hard, wasn't it?"

"I don't know, Sonic, this seems a little presumptuous," said Sally.

"Sally, trust in your gut when all else fails, okay? Besides, Jericho and Geoffrey are total blowhards, they like to take it slow and full of hot air. I'm almost never wrong about Robuttnik and how things connect with him," said Sonic.

"The key word being 'almost'. Okay, let's do it," said Sally.

Sonic and Sally did their secret handshake and went back outside to talk to the other Freedom Fighters.

"Well, what did he want?" said Bunnie.

"Oh, he just wanted to wish us good luck on our mission, as usual," said Sonic.

"Uh, yeah. The mission is a go," said Sally.

"Don't be long!" said Cream.

"Be safe, will ya? Especially you, Sonic. I'll be rootin' for ya!" said Amy.

Sonic simply rolled his eyes at Amy's request.

"You really had to make a promise to her cousin to look after her?" said Tails.

"I wish I hadn't, sometimes," said Sonic.

Sally, Rotor, Bunnie, and Antoine boarded their speeder, as Sonic raced off with Tails flying after him. Soon, the rest of the Freedom Fighters were in hot pursuit of Sonic as they left the Great Forest and headed back into the Robotropolis city limits. Sonic reached for the communicator on his wrist.

"Testing, one, two, three. Sal, do you read me?" said Sonic.

"Loud and clear, Sonic. We're right behind you," said Sally.

"Tails, how's the jammer working?" said Sonic.

"It's working great, Sonic! We got a clear shot to the Chemical Plant!" said Tails.

"Great! If all goes according to Sal's plan, it should be smooth sailing! We'll be there in no time! Sonic, out."

Sonic and Tails led the Freedom Fighters along the main highway towards Robotropolis, the moon just barely creeping through the smog and clouds of smoke that graced the city skyline.

"There it is, Robotropolis," said Tails.

"Whoa! Hold up! SWAT Bots!" said Sonic.

Sonic stopped and he and Tails hid from sight as a SWAT Bot Patrol came into view.

 _"Patrol 9, Status Update."_

 _"Sweep of C-Sector: Clear."_

 _"Head over to Area Eleven and check Sector Thirty-Eight."_

"Doesn't look like they notice our speeder, Sonic. Sally and the others are okay," said Tails.

"Ignorance is bliss, even for 'bots. Anyway, let's keep moving, the Chemical Plant is still a ways to go," said Sonic.

Sonic resumed his run down the street, using his quick-steps to avoid crashing into speeders, who honked their horns at the sight of him.

"Whoa! How fast are we gonna go, Sonic?" said Tails.

"Fast enough!" said Sonic.

"Can ya be a bit more specific, sugah-hog?" said Bunnie.

"How fast can that speeder go?" said Sonic.

"Sonic, it's hard enough keeping up with you in this thing!" said Sally.

"We're almost there! C'mon Tails! You sure you can keep up with me? You're too sloowww!"

Sonic did a mocking pose with his Figure 8 Peel out move, as he began to go faster.

"Sonic, slow down!" said Sally.

"'Slow down?' No way, Sal! We're on a mission! We gotta go fast!" said Sonic.

Sonic weaved with almost impossible precision through the thick traffic, not even grazing one at the speed he was going.

"C'mon guys, at the rate I'm going, I would've covered this whole city five times over by now!" said Sonic.

"Maybe if you slow down a bit, we can keep up with you!" said Rotor.

"No time!" said Sonic.

Eventually, Sonic did slow down, and stopped on a rooftop near the Chemical Plant. He then produced his electrobinoculars, and surveyed the scene.

"Chemical plant in sight. Good news: hardly any security around, just as you predicted, Sal. You'd think Robuttnik would have had the sense to have better security 24/7."

Tails finally caught up with Sonic, panting a bit. Tails then picked Sonic up and carried him over the Chemical Plant walls using his flight.

"Check it out, Tails," said Sonic.

Tails looked at the relatively low amount of security guarding the Chemical Plant.

"Wow, it's really...light," said Tails.

"And lucky for us," said Sonic.

Sally, Antoine, Rotor, and Bunnie soon arrived.

"We hid the speedah behind come containers, sugah-hog. What does the security look like?" said Bunnie.

"Security is light. Much lighter than we'd hoped for," said Sonic.

"I dunno, it seems way sloppier than usual," said Sally.

"Sal, you ever heard of a lucky break? No? You're just being paranoid again. C'mon, let's take this place out quietly while we still can!" said Sonic.

"I am not liking zis place too much..." said Antoine.

"Me too, Ant," said Tails.

Sonic began to walk nonchalantly towards the front door. Rotor, holding a scanner, soon found something.

"Sonic, wait! There's a motion-"

But Rotor never got the chance to finish his sentence. When Sonic stepped near the door, a loud alarm went off.

"Uhh...oops?" said Sonic.

"You had to set off a motion sensor, didn't you, Sonic? LOOK OUT!" said Sally.

Sonic turned to see two gun turrets deploy from the overhang above the door, and began shooting at him. He took evasive action.

"WHOA! Uh...Sally, remember what I said about a Plan B? Well, I was just kidding! We need a Plan B right about now!" said Sonic.

"Well-LOOK OUT!" said Sally.

More turrets began to deploy out of the walls, taking aim and firing at the Freedom Fighters, forcing them into cover behind some containers.

"What are we gonna do?! Those turrets are pinnin' us down!" said Bunnie.

"Oh no! The door is locking down!" said Rotor.

"That was the only way in! It's no good! We have to abort the mission," said Sally.

"Abort? You kidding? This is our only chance! If we blow it, then Mobius is doomed!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, you jumped the gun and blew our one shot at this! What are we supposed to do now?" said Sally.

Sonic looked around.

"Maybe not. I got an idea! Wait here and draw their fire for me!" said Sonic.

As the Freedom Fighters fired at the turrets to draw their fire, the ground began to shake, with increasing intensity. Sonic looked up as spotlights shone upon him.

"Uh oh. It can only be Bird Legs."

 _"Warning: The Priority One Hedgehog War Criminal has been sighted. Citizens of Robotropolis are ordered to return to your homes. On behalf of Doctor Robotnik and the citizens of Robotropolis, stand down at once, or be destroyed."_

"Destroy me? You and what army?" said Sonic.

 _"Lay down your arms, terrorist."_ said the machine.

"I've been called many things, Bird Legs, I am no terrorist!" said Sonic as he revved himself up.

"Sonic, wait! Don't fight that thing! That thing's weapons have a big splash effect! One wrong shot could damage the tanks, and we'll have a disaster on our hands!" said Tails.

"Yeah, Sonic! Think about what could happen to all the people if you fight that thing!" said Rotor.

Sonic looked around, and he could see Tails and Rotor were right, the tanks were right in the area of combat. Sonic then jumped to avoid the Egg Shredder's gun turrets, but a laser cutter began to cut down his cover, forcing him to move to another cover.

"I gotta find a way to get past that thing. I only got one shot at this. Hey, NICOLE? What would happen if we lit up the fuel tanks?" said Sonic.

 _"The Fuel Tanks are sealed up, an open flame would be harmless to them,"_ said NICOLE.

"No! I mean, what if we destroyed the fuel tanks? Would that toast the chemicals?" said Sonic.

 _"Evaluating. Yes, Sonic, destruction of the fuel tanks would cause a massive fire that would 'toast' the chemicals and prevent them from spreading,"_ said NICOLE.

"That's all I needed to hear! Guys! Get ready to run! I'm getting ready to juice!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, be careful! Make sure the fuel lines aren't-" Sally said.

"Sorry Sal, can't hear you! Gotta juice it loose!" said Sonic.

Sonic jumped to avoid the Egg Shredder's stomp attempt and its attempts to shoot him. Sonic hoped it didn't fire any missiles. He then saw an opening to run past it, dodging blaster shots as he ran to the main fuel valve. Sonic then reached into his backpack and grabbed a sequencer charge, placing it on the valve, making sure the valve was open. He then armed the charge and began to run under the Egg Shredder again, dodging it's attempts to shoot and stomp him.

 _"Running only increases the severity of your crime!"_ said the machine.

"I'm only in trouble when I get caught, Bird Legs!" said Sonic.

Sonic soon rejoined his friends, who were pinned by turrets.

"Okay guys, charges are set! Took me a bit, but I managed to place the explosives on the main valve. Any questions you have, save 'em for later! We gotta do some major juicin', and I gotta time it right," said Sonic.

"The main valve? Sonic, did you remember to check the-" said Sally.

"EEK! WE ARE GOING TO BE DEAD BEAT!" said Antoine.

The Egg Shredder was closing in on their position, and was almost right on top of them, ready to entrap them with its force field generators.

"I think you meant 'dead meat', Ant! Sonic, hurry up!" said Tails.

"Not yet. A few more seconds..." said Sonic.

"SONIC!" said Sally.

"Okay, now!" said Sonic.

Sonic produced a Power Ring and grabbed his friends, who were holding each other's hands, as the ring sent Sonic into a super charged speed boost, and he raced off before the Egg Shredder could trap them. Within seconds, the charges began to detonate, causing a massive explosion. Sonic raced with his friends in tow to a safe place on the edge of the city, where they could watch the show. They watched, the flames of the explosion reached the main fuel tanks at the chemical plant, causing them to begin to burst and explode, consuming the chemical plant and causing the Egg Shredder to light on fire

"Look at that. That's beautiful," said Sonic.

But suddenly, the main fuel line leading into the chemical plant started to explode in a chain reaction, reaching the fuel tanks of another nearby factory, causing yet another explosion, engulfing the factory in flames.

"Did that...?" said Bunnie.

"Whoa..." said Rotor.

"Was...that supposed to happen?" said Tails.

"To be honest, Tails, it wasn't in the plan...but that just means we got to hurt ol' Robuttnik a lot more this time! One factory will set him back for months!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, I cannot believe you. You didn't even bother to check to see if the fuel line was closed? We could have got someone killed!" said Sally.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know if they were open or not? Besides, there wasn't time to close 'em anyway!" said Sonic.

"Massive explosions like that are never a good thing, Sonic. You should have just retreated with us!" said Sally.

"It's one factory, Sal, what's the worst that can happen? You said it once yourself, every factory destroyed hurts Robuttnik's war efforts. Just a lucky shot, I say," said Sonic.

Sally simply groaned.

"Well, Mission accomplished, I guess," she said.

"Yup. Mission accomplished! Foiled another one of Robotnik's evil plots before it could begin," said Sonic.

"I guess..." said Rotor.

"Sally-girl, ah was wonderin'," said Bunnie.

"Wondering what, Bunnie?" said Sally.

"Do ya ever git the feelin' that there's mo' to this mess than meets the eye?"

"I don't know, Bunnie. There's a lot we don't know. Let's get back to Knothole before Robotnik starts shooting up the city." said Sally.

"Oh just relax, will ya Sal? We did great! Let's party!" said Sonic.

"Yeah!" said Tails.

The Freedom Fighters walked into the night back towards Knothole, and they got a big welcome by their friends.

"We saw the explosion all the way from here! That was 'radical'!" said Amy.

"That was...'Seismic', Mr. Sonic! YAY!" said Cream.

"I know, I saw it too, Amy! Up close! It was amazing...no, incredulous!" said Tails.

"It was AWESOME! Now what are we standing around for? Let's celebrate!" said Sonic.

"Yes, yes, and I did not even show any of ze fear in ze face of ze terrible Shredder of Eggs!" said Antoine.

Rotor facepalmed, Bunnie just rolled her eyes.

 _"Incoming Transmission, Sally. Jericho Raccoon. Urgent mark,"_ said NICOLE.

"Will you all excuse us? Sonic, come with me, we'll take it in the command center," said Sally.

"Right-o! I wonder why it's 'urgent' this time? Maybe he's gonna congratulate us and give us a few medals?" said Sonic.

"I dunno, let's find out," said Sally.

They activated the holoprojector, and Jericho's image appeared.

 _"Sonic, Sally. That massive explosion in Robotropolis tonight. Please do not tell me that was you behind that."_

"Yup! That was us! Robuttnik won't be making any doomsday weapon to threaten our home anytime soon!" said Sonic.

 _"Oh no...oh no, what have you done?"_

"Jericho? Are you okay? what's wrong? You sound like we made a mistake." said Sally.

"Go back to the part where you're supposed to commend us for all our hard work, please?" said Sonic.

Jericho clenched his fists.

 _"YOU IDIOT!"_

Sonic and Sally were surprised by the sudden outburst.

"What? We heard Robotnik was producing a chemical weapon to wipe out organic life so we blew up his chemical plant so he couldn't mass produce it on a wide scale, what's the big deal?" said Sonic.

 _"Do you realize what you've done? What circumstances you've upset?"_

"Do what? Upset what? Jericho, what's going on here? What are you so upset about? You and Geoffrey appear to know something that we don't. Tell me. Now," said Sally.

 _"Oh you two have upset a lot more than just our plans here..."_

"Y'know, if you and St. Jerk would just TELL us what your plans were instead of keeping us in the dark, we wouldn't be having this conversation!" said Sonic.

 _"We would have, if you'd given us time, you idiot! Oh no...I shouldn't even be talking to you over the holoprojector! They could be listening in right now!"_

"'They?' Who's 'they,' Jericho?" said Sally.

"Yeah, enough is enough, Jericho! You and St. Jerk, no more secrets! We wanna know what's going on here! We demand some answers! I don't like your style of keeping us in the dark!" said Sonic.

 _"No... not over the holoprojector. I'm leaving immediately for Knothole. I'll be there first thing tomorrow. When I get through to you'll wish you'd heeded our warning. Goodbye."_

Jericho then closed the transmission.

"If anyone's the idiot, it's him, and St. Jerk! Who do they think they are? Keeping secrets from us? US! THE GOOD GUYS! It would make life a whole lot easier if they just told us what's going on. But noooo! They gotta be all secretive and obstructive!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, just calm down. At least he and his associates are on their way to explain themselves to us. But he sounded afraid of something," said Sally.

"Afraid of what? Who or what has got him so spooked?" said Sonic.

"I don't know...but I got a feeling the game is about to change. Sonic, get a hold of Knuckles, tell him to come here immediately. I have a feeling this will concern him too," said Sally.

"You know Knucklehead and I aren't friends, Sal," said Sonic.

Sally simply glared at Sonic.

"OK! I'll call him and tell him to come by," said Sonic.

As Sonic went to a communicator, Sally looked at the sky, feeling chills down her spine.


	4. The Empire

**Chapter 4: The Empire**

Sally woke up with a start that morning. Her face was covered in sweat and dried tears, her head like it was ready to burst open. She was breathing heavily at first, but gradually slowed down to a relaxed pace. She then got out of bed, got dressed, and went outside, where Sonic quickly appeared next to her.

"Good morning, Sal!"

But Sally didn't answer, Sonic's smile slowly changed to a frown.

"You alright? Did you get any sleep last night?" he said.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm sorry, Sonic. I...I had this crazy dream last night," said Sally.

"Crazy dream? What kind of crazy dream?" said Sonic.

"I don't know. In it, the whole forest was burning," said Sally.

"The forest was burning? Because of who? Robotnik?" said Sonic.

"I don't know...it made no sense...there were flying machines...they screamed like banshees...and great steel beasts, stomping through the forest," said Sally.

Sonic simply scratched his head.

"Screaming flying machines? Great steel beasts? None of this is making any sense, Sal," he said.

"I know, right? It all happened so fast, it was over before it could make any sense," said Sally.

"Yeah, so fast that it gives me a headache from trying to make sense of it," said Sonic.

"You? I've never heard of anything that's too fast for you, Sonic," said Sally.

"Yeah, well, just because I'm the fastest thing on two feet doesn't mean I'm the fastest in other stuff," said Sonic.

"Especially in terms of brain power and the ability to think."

"Hey, I can think!"

"I think not."

"Haha, 'I think not,'"

The Freedom Fighters had gathered in the hut that afternoon to wait for their allies to arrive. One of them, a hulking 16-year old Mobian Echidna arrived. It was Knuckles the Echidna.

"Alright, Sally, you got me here, you said it was urgent. What's going on? Or did Sonic pull another prank call on me?" said Knuckles.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea this time, Knuckles! And if this was another one of my 'prank calls', I'd be laughing right now. Do you see me laughing here?" said Sonic.

"I bet you're laughing internally!" said Knuckles.

"Alright you two, knock it off!" said Sally.

"Maybe we can get down to business...providing that Knuckles isn't so 'juiced' up that even a stubbed toe will make him rage," said Sonic.

"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S 'JUICED' UP!"

But Amy drew her Piko Hammer, ready to strike.

"Not if you're gonna be a pile of red goo first, Knucklehead!" she said.

"STOP CALLING ME 'KNUCKLEHEAD'!" said Knuckles.

But Bunnie and Rotor quickly stepped in and held each of them back.

"Now, now, you two, calm down," said Bunnie.

"We didn't ask you to come down here to pick a fight, Knuckles," said Rotor.

"Yes. He's right. Jericho Raccoon, Geoffrey St. John, and their entourage are on their way, they have some important information that they need to share with us," said Sally.

"Well, whatever information they have, it had better be important enough to warrant my being here," said Knuckles.

"At least we agree on something," said Sonic.

"Jericho doesn't come to Knothole often, he's real paranoid, I heard. If he's coming here, it's for good reason," said Tails.

"And ah'm not surprised he's keepin' secrets, with the trainin' he got, it's in his nature. Ah know he's been fightin' Robotnik ovah eight years, he's got his style down," said Bunnie.

"Speaking of which, last we heard, he was on his way. When will he be here, Sal?" said Rotor.

"How about now, Rotor?" said Jericho.

Everyone turned, and there was Jericho, Geoffrey, Dayton, Derek, and Milena standing at the entrance. Sonic put on his friendly face.

"Hey guys! How's it hangin'?" he said.

But when Sonic got close, Jericho responded with a solid punch to Sonic's face, knocking him to the floor.

"OWW! My nose! You punched me in the nose! Why?! Why'd you do that?!" said Sonic.

"Get up," said Geoffrey.

"But-"

"He said, 'get up,' you big baby," said Derek.

Derek helped Sonic up as Dayton got in Sonic's face.

"What the hell is wrong with you, you blue idiot?! We asked you to stay put! Is comprehending a simple instruction too hard for your small brain?!" said Dayton.

"For now, I'd be able to comprehend what you're talking about!" said Sonic.

"The Central Chemical Plant. Does that ring a bell?" said Geoffrey.

"Yeah, didn't we tell you, clear as day, not to attack it? Maybe I need to-"

"Dayton! Enough!" said Milena.

"You know, you're lucky you got that punch from me, and not him, Sonic," said Jericho.

"Jericho!" said Milena.

"Look, guys, calm down, let's just break it to them, slowly now," said Derek.

"Alright, let's get to the point, Jericho. What's going on here? Why did you tell us not to attack that chemical plant? What intel do you have that told you something was wrong?" said Sally.

"And what the hell is going on around here? Will someone just give me a simple straight answer?" said Knuckles.

"Sit down and shut up. And we'll tell you," said Jericho.

Amy leaned in close to Rotor.

"Is that Jericho?" said Amy.

"Yeah. That's him. Like Tails said, he doesn't come here regularly. We don't know the full extent of his achievements, or his operations. He's an enigma to us, but he's good," said Rotor.

Amy squinted to try and get a look at Jericho's metallic hands.

"Those hands look like they were..."

"No, they're not. That's all we know, they're prosthetics, not Roboticized. I only got a look at them once. Both hands, the right arm, and his chest. They appear to pre-date the coup. The technology is way ahead of the curve, but that's all I could get at the time," said Rotor.

"Who's the hothead with the buzzcut?"

"That's Dayton, his brother. Yeah, he's hot under the collar, but he's okay, his bark can be as bad as his bite, but that's typically all you get," said Rotor.

"And who's the lady? I've seen her talking with Sally sometimes," said Amy.

"That's their sister, Milena. She's usually the middlewoman for Jericho. She helps out with the administrative/political stuff for them. In other words, she's a bureaucrat. She's a real ice queen, too," said Rotor.

"And... that other guy?" said Amy.

"Derek Alddelfor, he's fancies himself a gun-for-hire, but he's only worked with Jericho as far as we know. We don't know where he comes from, much like with Jericho and his siblings. We hooked up with them about a year ago, around the same time we hooked up with Geoffrey. That was when our movement was really taking off. But Geoffrey and Jericho have never been totally cooperative with us, Sally thinks they know more about Robotnik than they let on. But, they claim they're serving a purpose in the way they operate, so that's worked for us, until now," said Rotor.

Geoffrey then pulled out a data disc and placed it in the holoterminal socket, and began to start up the holoprojector. Antoine and Knuckles were sniggering at Sonic's misfortune.

"Sonic got what he was asking for, no?" said Antoine.

"Why didn't I think of that? The direct approach is often the funniest," said Knuckles.

"Knuckles, is there something you wish to ask us?" said Geoffrey.

"No," said Knuckles.

"Good. Now pay attention," said Geoffrey.

Dayton slowly extended one of his forearm blades and pointed it at Knuckles.

"If you two keep talking like that-"

"Dayton, put that away," said Milena.

"Yes, 'mom'," said Dayton.

"Anyway..." said Jericho.

"We didn't come all this way to pick a fight," Derek said.

"You see, blowing up that chemical plant was one thing. Sure, that definitely slowed Robotnik down or at least prevented him from carrying out whatever plan he has right away, but, it's the collateral damage you caused that got our attention," said Jericho.

"Ze damage of collateral?" said Antoine.

"Collateral damage? What kind? And what do you mean by that? Why didn't you tell us earlier?" said Sonic.

"We have a reason we've kept you guys in the dark, you know," said Derek.

"We didn't tell you this cause it involves something you aren't ready for," said Jericho.

"That factory you guys blew up in the process was not one of Robotnik's factories," said Dayton.

"Huh?" said Tails.

"Wait, what?" said Sonic.

"Come again?" said Rotor.

"What do you guys mean by that?" said Sally.

"Oh sure, it may have looked and smelled like one..." said Milena.

"But that factory was actually run by Robotnik...for his masters," said Jericho.

"'His masters'? Who are they?" said Amy.

Geoffrey then displayed a logo on the holoprojector.

"The Galactic Empire, that's who," he said.

"Hold on, I've seen that logo all over the city! Some of the flags, factories, even the Citadel Tower has that!" said Sonic.

"No surprise. And when we first met, I was surprised you didn't know about the Empire. But given you guys were pretty young when the coup took place, and the fact Knothole is off the grid, it's no wonder to us why you don't know what's been going on in the Galaxy the last ten years," said Jericho.

"The Empire is the current Galactic Government that rules much of the Galaxy, after they replaced the Old Republic nineteen years ago," said Geoffrey.

"Wait...'rules much of the Galaxy'?" said Bunnie.

Geoffrey then brought up a holomap of the Galaxy, showing what the Empire's territory looked like, and then pointed to where Mobius was.

"All the area in red, that's the Empire's territories, and as you can see, it's a big piece. And unfortunately for us, we're just inside the Imperials' borders," said Geoffrey.

"Wait a minute, if this Empire is for real, why haven't we seen any of them?" said Sally.

"You guys are actually very lucky until now. Robotnik never trusted the Imperial forces to police Mobius, he ensured that only his droid forces are the real military power on this planet. As a result, occasional inspection aside, the Empire has maintained no garrisons on the planet, at least, last we checked," said Milena.

"Whoa, slow down for a Sonic second! One: How did the Empire manage to get a hold of Mobius? Two: Why didn't we learn of this sooner?" said Sonic.

"To answer your second question: We just told you, you imbecile! You weren't ready!" said Derek.

"Not ready? Not ready for what?" said Sally.

"The Empire's war machine," said Jericho.

"Their machine of war?!" said Antoine.

"War machine, indeed. The Empire has the largest military in the whole Galaxy. Robotnik's droid forces are nothing compared to the Empire," said Jericho.

"Hmph. If we can stand against Robotnik, then we can stand against the Empire," said Sonic.

"Don't give us that, boy. You all can barely stand up to Robotnik's own forces. There's no way even the Freedom Fighters united could stand up to the Empire directly, no matter what strategies you use," said Geoffrey.

"Oh sure, you guys would last long against their strength in numbers, hundreds of mechanized units, and even fleets of starships that can level this whole planet within minutes," said Dayton.

"You're not serious," said Sally.

"Oh we're dead serious, Sally," said Milena.

"They can and they most certainly will. They've done it to many other planets before," said Geoffrey.

Geoffrey then began to show photos of the aftermath of planetary bombardments on other planets, courtesy of the Empire. Everyone gasped in awe.

"Whoa..." said Tails.

"Geeze, even Robuttnik hasn't gone this far. At least not yet," said Sonic.

"That's not even the worst of it. The Empire has committed atrocities against anyone who is non-human. This includes us," said Milena.

"What do you mean, Milena?" said Sally.

"I should know, the Empire will expel anyone in power who isn't human or submissive, and they'll instill a leader who is. Robotnik is one of them," said Milena.

"Which brings us to answer your first question, Sonic. The Empire has always had Mobius in its grasp. Even before the coup," said Jericho.

"Before the coup...?" said Rotor.

"Hold on there, Jericho? Are y'all sayin' Robotnik wasn't the mastermind?" said Bunnie.

"He was, Bunnie. But he didn't plan this coup by himself. The Empire allowed him to do it," said Jericho.

"He's right. From what we know, the King never trusted the Empire, so they allied with Robotnik to remove him. Official Imperial records say that the King attempted an armed insurrection against the Empire, therefore, Robotnik's coup was legally justified. They allowed Robotnik to do what he did because they wanted Mobius. Robotnik wanted to rule it. Their interests aligned," said Geoffrey.

"Wait, how did you guys learn all this?" said Sally.

"We always learned something new over the last several years, there was never any official proof, but it was obvious, the Empire backed Robotnik, we figured that out on our own," said Geoffrey.

"This is absurd! Why did the Empire even bother to help Robotnik! His ego and ambitions are bigger than Sonic and Knuckles' combined! He'll betray them!" said Amy.

"And even so, all the materials he's been mining, all that stuff he builds in his factories, it's mostly to supply the Empire. And Robotnik won't try it, what he can do to them is nothing compared to what the Empire will do to him. He's just a small fry," said Dayton.

"And nobody challenges or plots against the Empire's leaders and lives," said Jericho.

"Not even Robotnik?" said Rotor.

"Not even Robotnik. He's not brave enough to challenge the Emperor," said Geoffrey.

"The Emperor?" said Sally.

"Who's this 'Emperor'?" said Sonic.

"That would be Emperor Palpatine, the Empire's first and only ruler, and the former Supreme Chancellor of the Old Republic," said Jericho.

"Palpatine...Palpatine...I've heard that name in my studies. My dad told me about him when they talked about the fall of the Old Republic, but they never went into detail about what happened after, it's like they don't acknowledge the Empire, now that you mention it," said Knuckles.

"Wait, Knuckles, you knew about the Empire?" said Sonic.

"I don't remember my dad ever mentioning them, Sonic, it was too long ago," said Knuckles.

"Also, the Emperor, he's almost never seen by anyone, he usually has his enforcer conduct his business throughout the Empire. The Supreme Commander of all Imperial Forces, Darth Vader," said Jericho.

"That's a scary name..." said Cream.

"Chao..." said Cheese.

Geoffrey then brought up a holographic display of Darth Vader himself, a man in black armor. But Sally suddenly began to hyperventilate, falling out of her chair in such a shock, her whole body trembling in fear.

"Sally-girl?" said Bunnie.

"Sally?" said Sonic.

"Don't just stand there, help her!" said Geoffrey.

Everyone rushed to Sally's side to keep her from hitting her head on the floor, but Sally was paralyzed with fear.

"My princess?" said Antoine.

"Sally? Are you okay? What's wrong? One minute, they mention this Darth Vader, the next, you're having a panic attack! What's wrong?" said Rotor.

Sally slowly began to point at Vader's image.

"That's him...that's him...that's really...that's really him... really... really him...that's really him..." said Sally.

"Slow down, Sally. Try to breathe slowly. Slow deep breaths. Try to get a sense of where you're at," said Dayton.

"Who? Who's 'him', Sally? I don't understand," said Amy.

Milena looked at the image of Vader, then turned back to Sally.

"Wait, are you talking about Vader?" said Milena.

"Yes...yes...Darth...Darth Vader...the man in black," said Sally.

"Ze man in ze black?" said Antoine.

Sally nodded.

"Sally, tell us, what did Darth Vader do to give you a panic attack? Better yet, how did you encounter him? He was never on Mobius as far as we know," said Geoffrey.

"I saw him...I saw him...during the... during the..." Sally said.

"Take your time," Geoffrey said.

"During the what?" said Derek.

"During the... during the... during the coup," said Sally.

Everyone gasped.

"What?" said Bunnie.

"He was here?!" said Sonic.

"Wait, you saw Darth Vader during the coup?" said Jericho.

"Yes...yes..." said Sally.

"When? When did you see him?" said Milena.

"What happened also? What was Darth Vader doing here? How & where did you see him?" said Geoffrey.

"The day of the coup... when daddy sent us away with Rosie & Julalya. I didn't want to leave him, I wanted to save him so badly, but he insisted I go...Rosie took me down the tunnel, but I slipped away and went back, hoping to get him. But I heard loud banging noises coming from the door. It was forced open, there he was, Darth Vader. He and my father were arguing about something; I don't remember what. They fought, Vader practically curb-stomped him, he had some kind of laser sword, and he had some kind of telekinetic powers, I saw my father fly through the air. But Rosie came back and grabbed me and then carried me away. Vader was demanding my father turn over somebody, but that's all I can remember. That's the only time I saw him and the last time I saw my father," said Sally.

"You saw Darth Vader...mercilessly beating your dad, the King?" said Sonic.

"Blimey...your father didn't stand a chance, luv, but at least he stalled him long enough to escape," said Geoffrey.

"I'm surprised he even took a stand against Vader. People who have tried, met a most painful death," said Jericho.

"And you're lucky he didn't find you," said Milena.

"Yeah, you could have been a slave or been killed," said Dayton.

"What exactly was ze Darth Vader demanding from your father?" said Antoine.

"I really can't remember, Antoine. That was ten years ago. All I know was that my father was being ordered by Vader to tell him where someone was. I really can't remember anything more," said Sally.

"It's no wonder Knothole was kept off the grid, somebody didn't want you guys to be found, much less discover the truth behind the coup. Cause once the Empire targets you, you're in for a real nightmare. And probably, nobody wanted you growing up wanting revenge," said Jericho.

"My father warned me about revenge: 'It's a poison that can corrupt the purest of souls,'" said Knuckles.

"You're right about that. But in the meantime, it's only a matter of time until the Empire comes here and tracks down Knothole," said Derek.

"Wait...the Empire is coming here?" said Sally.

"That's correct. Robotnik isn't gonna stop them this time," said Milena.

"What does that mean?" said Tails.

"It means, kid, the Empire is angry with Robotnik, they've been wondering what's been going on here over the last four years, ever since you guys started operations, and now after the loss of six months' worth of construction materials, that they're gonna send troops here to take charge of the situation," said Geoffrey.

"What does that mean, 'what's been going on here'?" said Sonic.

"Robotnik has been covering up the existence of the Freedom Fighters for the last four years, boy. He's determined to try and beat us on his own. But now that you've gone and unintentionally destroyed an Imperial target, the Empire is no longer gonna sit quietly and listen to his cover-ups. They're gonna leave no stone unturned until they find us," said Geoffrey.

"Don't they need proof?" said Rotor.

"Imperial spies are everywhere, Rotor. And given how big a mess you guys have caused, they don't need proof. We had fears that one day it would come to this, but thanks to you, any hope we have at stopping Robotnik is gone. Bravo," said Jericho.

"Not cool, Sonic," said Knuckles.

"Hey, it's not my fault these guys didn't warn us what we were up against! If you guys had been straight with us, we wouldn't be in this mess!" said Sonic.

"If you hadn't been so unrestrained and trusted our judgement, we wouldn't be in this mess, boy!" said Geoffrey.

"Is that a challenge, St. Jerk?!" said Sonic.

"Stop it! Both of you! Fighting amongst ourselves is what they want us to do!" said Sally.

Sonic and Geoffrey glared at each other, but sighed.

"She's right. We need to start evacuating everyone immediately while there's still time," said Geoffrey.

"Pft. Yeah right, this is our home! We've eluded Robotnik for a decade!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, we're not just dealing with Robotnik anymore. We're dealing with the Empire now, too. Like Geoffrey said, they're gonna find us, and when they do, we're all dead. And with what little time we have left, we need to evacuate everyone now," said Derek.

"Well, how long does it usually take for the Empire to mobilize a search party?" said Sonic.

Suddenly, the room shook violently as an explosion was heard nearby.

"What was that?" said Knuckles.

Dayton looked out the window.

"Oh no! There's landing craft landing in the meadow! Bombers coming this way too!"

"Oh no, we gotta move!" said Jericho.

"First things first, all the computers, all the data drives, smash them all! We can't leave a data trail for the Empire to track down the other Freedom Fighters!" said Sally.

"Alright! Wipe the computers! Double-time!" said Geoffrey.

"How'd they find us so fast?" said Amy.

"The Imperials must have had probes find us, I don't know, there was a lot of ways they could have found us!" said Milena.

Jericho, Geoffrey, and Dayton used their pistol butts to smash the screens. Meanwhile, the Freedom Fighters began smashing the screens and yanking out the data drives, smashing them in the process.

"I'd hate to lose all the data we've worked so hard to collect..." said Tails.

"But we have no choice! Either we destroy 'em or the Empire will use it to track down our allies! Is that what you want, Tails?" said Rotor.

"He's got a bloody point, you know!" said Geoffrey.

"So hurry up! Ah'm almost done!" said Bunnie.

The Freedom Fighters hustled to destroy the computers and data drives as the explosions grew closer. Jericho then noticed NICOLE's handheld unit on the floor. He proceeded to pick her up and place her in one of his pockets.

"That's the last of 'em!" said Sonic.

"I should have known it was a bad idea to leave the Island!" said Knuckles.

"Okay! Let's go! Let's go! We're leaving!" said Jericho.

"Double time! Move! Move! Move!" said Geoffrey.

The Freedom Fighters hustled outside, and it was chaos all over Knothole. Huts and trees were engulfed in flames, Imperial landing craft were landing in the Meadow, Bombers screamed overhead, dropping bombs.

"The entire forest is in flames!" said Sally.

"Man, look at all of them! There's gotta be thousands of them!" said Sonic.

But then, they heard loud clanking noises as a large walking vehicle appeared from behind a hut.

"Look out! A Scout Walker!" said Jericho.

"They don't look so tough!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, no!" said Sally.

Sonic went into a spin dash and dashed forward, but rather than topple it, the AT-ST's armor easily deflected Sonic, sending him rolling to the side, clutching his head.

"What is that thing made of?! Robotnik's vehicles weren't so tough!" he said.

Suddenly, several soldiers wearing white armor appeared, trying to surround them.

"Stormtroopers!" said Geoffrey.

"FREEZE! Don't move!" said a Stormtrooper.

Derek responded by charging up his lightning attack and fired energy arcs at the troopers, leaving them immobilized and allowing the others to take them out with blaster shots.

"Ah won't be taken alive by those ugly-lookin' snowmen!" said Bunnie.

"Nor will I! Especially with those ugly helmets!" said Anotine.

"We gotta get to the escape tunnel! This way! Hurry!" said Sally.

"Amy, come on!" said Tails.

Amy had just finished smashing a few Stormtroopers with her hammer before rushing to join the others, struggling to keep up and avoid being shot at. Knuckles was struggling too, punching Stormtroopers and SWAT Bots left and right.

"There's too many of them!" he said.

"We have to keep moving!" said Geoffrey.

Dayton extended his wrist blades and began hacking and slashing some troopers left and right, as did Sally using her ring blades. Dayton also pulled his pistol to shoot a few down at range. Milena was suddenly grabbed by one trooper.

"Get off me, buckethead!" she said.

Derek charged his fist with kinetic energy and began punching the trooper as hard as he could, knocking him out and releasing Milena.

"Thank me later!" he said.

"Derek, look out!" said Milena.

A stormtrooper was coming up behind Derek fast, Milena quickly responded, grabbing a staff she had holstered on the back of her waist, she then extended it and activated its electrical charge and began smashing the trooper hard with it, knocking him out. Derek simply took her hand and rushed to catch up, ignoring her.

"A little 'thank you' would be nice, you know!" she said.

"Shut up!" he said.

"We're almost there!" said Sally.

Sonic used his Spin Dash to clear the path of Stormtroopers and SWAT Bots, to give the Freedom Fighters an opening to the escape tunnel.

"C'mon guys! I would've reached the tunnel hours ago at this point!" said Sonic.

"For once, you have a good point!" said Knuckles.

Knuckles slammed his fists into the ground, using them to create a shockwave that knocked more stormtroopers and SWAT Bots off their feet.

"Let's go, people!" he said.

"INCOMING BOMBERS!" said Dayton.

A group of TIE Bombers were coming towards them, fast.

"Into the tunnel! Triple-time! GO! GO! GO! HURRY!" said Geoffrey.

"WATCH OUT!" said Jericho.

The TIE Bombers began dropping bombs, forcing the Freedom Fighters to scatter into cover, one of the bombs hit the tunnel entrance, causing it to collapse and block their path.

"Crikey! Tunnel's blocked!" said Geoffrey.

"You don't say?!" said Derek.

He and Geoffrey, along with Knuckles, Bunnie, and Sonic, tried to dig it out, but it was no good.

"Look out! More AT-STs!" said Milena.

"Aww...blimey," Geoffrey said.

Several Imperial AT-STs, AT-PTs, and a whole platoon of Stormtroopers surrounded them.

"Throw down your weapons! You can't escape, Rebel scum!" said a Stormtrooper.

Jericho, Geoffrey, Dayton, Derek, and Milena were the first to throw down their weapons and put their hands behind their heads. The other Freedom Fighters did the same...except Sonic, who kept standing.

"Sonic..." Sally said.

"I know, Sal. It's happening...again," said Sonic.

Sonic got on his knees and put his hands behind his head, spitting on a Stormtrooper. The Stormtrooper responded by hitting him with the butt of his rifle.

That night, the entire Great Forest was a smoking wasteland full of burned trees and vegetation. The village was a smoking ruin. The Freedom Fighters were chained together and were being escorting to a waiting Lambda-class shuttle. They watched as their friends, rounded up in the attack, were sent aboard several Sentinel-class Landing Craft, which began to take off.

"I hope they go somewhere merciful," said Jericho.

"No Imperial prison is merciful," said Milena.

But soon, they saw another Lambda Shuttle come in for a landing. The Freedom Fighters didn't need to guess who it was. As soon as it landed, three people began to exit. First, Snively, then Dr. Robotnik, and, by the sound the ominous breathing apparatus, that signified Darth Vader himself. The Freedom Fighters froze as they saw him exit the shuttle, Sally's heart skipping a beat when she saw him.

"At last...after all my years of searching...Knothole village! I knew we'd find it eventually. Now the Freedom Fighters will fall!" said Robotnik.

"Robotnik! With Darth Vader, too. Laugh it up, fat man. While you still can," said Sonic.

But Sonic soon choked up when he saw Vader approach the Freedom Fighters.

"Children. Only children," said Vader.

"They're not just children! These are the ones who have been thorns in my side for too long! Especially that Hedgehog!" said Robotnik.

Darth Vader walked towards Robotnik, but a shuttle began to take off, and the Freedom Fighters could not hear what they were talking about.

"Doctor, a man of your intelligence has allowed children to cause considerable damage to our operations in this sector? And at a time of a great achievement? Why has this Rebel infiltration been tolerated so long?" said Vader.

Robotnik gulped in fear.

"Because...I wanted to...to savor their...demise! Yes, that's it! I wanted to savor it! To take the time to enjoy their suffering before they beg for their inevitable end!" said Robotnik.

"Spare me your pathetic excuses, Doctor. I am altering our arrangement. Permanently. From now on, we will maintain a garrison here alongside your droid forces," said Vader.

"But, my Lord, I thought you said that-"

"I will tolerate any more setbacks at a time like this. You should consider yourself lucky that the Emperor still has use for you, otherwise you would stand relieved," said Vader.

Robotnik stood trembling in fear as Vader glared at him. Snively sniggered quietly to himself, enjoying Robotnik's humiliation in the eyes of Vader.

"V-v-very well, my Lord. I serve at the pleasure of the Emperor," said Robotnik.

"Now, Doctor. You will accompany me to my next destination. Grand Moff Tarkin has requested your presence, immediately," said Vader.

"What does he want with me this time?" said Robotnik.

"You shall see. We have had a development regarding the Rebels," said Vader.

Vader then turned around towards the Freedom Fighters, frightening them. Cream stood close to Amy, trying to hide from Vader's eyesight.

"Shh...it'll be okay, Cream," said Amy.

Vader's movements suddenly jerked around, confusing everyone present.

"My lord? Is something the matter?" said Robotnik.

"Yes, my lord, does something disturb you, sir?" said Snively.

Vader slowly walked towards Sally, who was shaking in her boots as she laid eyes on the Dark Lord. Vader simply looked down at Sally. Sally almost forgot to breathe as she and Vader looked at each other.

"Put this one aboard my shuttle. She will come with me," said Vader.

"Wait what?! Hold on a Sonic second!" said Sonic.

Sally was confused as Stormtroopers unlocked her binders and began dragging her away.

"Lord Vader, what is going on? Why the Princess? The Hedgehog is more valuable than her! Without the Hedgehog, they are nothing! He is the pillar of their morale! The pillar of the Princess' morale! If he escapes, he'll do more damage to the Empire!" said Robotnik.

"You have lost the right to question my actions, Doctor. And do not encourage me to reconsider my decision regarding your post," said Vader.

Robotnik opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He was far too intimidated to continue challenging Vader.

"Y-yes, My Lord. I apologize," said Robotnik.

"HEY! YO! BUCKETHEAD IN BLACK! LET HER GO! YOU WANT A REAL THORN IN YOUR SIDE? TAKE ME!" said Sonic.

Sonic then spat, barely missing Vader's cape. But this was more than enough to get Vader to turn around. Sonic gulped. Vader then raised his hand, and Sonic began to choke, feeling like his throat was caught in a vice.

"Brave words from a boy. You fought a war with the naiveté of a child and the idea you could forestall the march of the Empire. Where you are going, you will be begging for mercy that will never come, and you will be broken several times over, to the point you wish you had died today by my hand," said Vader.

Sonic tried to spit again, but Vader simply slammed Sonic hard into the ground with his power. Sonic groaned in pain.

"You are all, by definition, Rebel traitors, and shall be punished as such. TAKE THEM AWAY!" said Vader.

"Let's go, keep moving!" said an Officer.

Jericho simply looked back at Dayton, who then looked back at Geoffrey. Geoffrey simply gave a nod and a wink.

"NO! PLEASE! SONIC!" said Sally.

Sonic watched as Sally was dragged away by the Stormtroopers.

"Sal...ly...no!" said Sonic.

Sonic could barely speak after what Vader did to him, but the Stormtroopers hit him with their rifles each time he failed to start moving, one Officer even used a prod to coerce him. Sally was dragged aboard Vader's shuttle, Vader, Robotnik, and Snively soon followed. The shuttle's boarding ramp closed, and it slowly began to take off, flying off into space. Sonic felt miserable as the Freedom Fighters were taken aboard their shuttle and placed in a holding cell.

"SIT! NO TALKING!" said the older Officer.

Sonic simply gave a dirty glare as he sat down on a bench seat row with the others sitting in different places. The older officer then shut the gate, locking it up. The pilots then began powering up the shuttle, and it took off. They could feel the shuttle gain speed. Geoffrey then looked over to Dayton and Jericho. Jericho simply shook his head lightly. They watched at the cockpit in front of them as the shuttle left the atmosphere, into the dark reaches of space. Tails, Amy, Cream, even Bunnie and Antoine looked amazed at going into space for the first time. They saw the shuttle pass by several large platforms, and several large spaceships, before it began to jump into hyperspace.


	5. Desperate Hour

**Chapter 5: Desperate Hour**

Darth Vader, Dr. Robotnik, and Snively, soon arrived at the Empire's most powerful weapon: The Death Star. Inside the conference room, some Imperial Officers were debating.

"Until this battle station is fully operational, we are vulnerable. The Rebel Alliance is too well equipped. They're more dangerous than you realize," said General Tagge.

"Dangerous to your starfleet, Commander, not to this battle station," said Admiral Motti.

"The Rebellion will continue to gain their support in the Imperial Senate-"

"The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us. I have just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the Council permanently. The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away," said Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin.

Tarkin had just walked in with Vader, Robotnik, and Snively in tow, and proceeded to sit down in his seat to speak to the other Imperials.

"I'm glad the Senate is gone, the Old Republic and all institutions that stood for it were obselete long ago. Now nothing stands in our path," said Robotnik.

"That's impossible! How will the Emperor maintain control without the bureaucracy?' said Tagge.

"The regional governors, including Moff Robotnik here, now have direct control over their territories. Fear will keep the local systems in line; fear of this battle station," said Tarkin.

"And what of the Rebellion? If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical readout of this station, it is possible, however unlikely, that they might find a weakness, and exploit it," said Tagge.

"I concur, gentlemen. As long as the plans remain out there, there is a legitimate threat to all we have worked hard to achieve," said Snively.

"The plans you refer to will soon be back in our hands," said Vader.

"Any attack made by the Rebels against this station would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they've obtained. This station is now the ultimate power in the universe! I suggest we use it," said Motti.

"Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force," said Vader.

"Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes. Or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebels' hidden fortre-"

Motti began to choke as Vader raised his arm. Motti clutched his throat as the other Imperials silently looked on.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing," said Vader.

"Enough of this! Vader, release him!" said Tarkin.

"As you wish," said Vader.

Motti soon was released from Vader's telekinetic grip, leaving him gasping for breath.

"This bickering is pointless. Now, Lord Vader will provide us with the location of the Rebel Fortress by the time this station is operational. We will then crush the Rebellion with one swift stroke," said Tarkin.

Robotnik grinned with delight.

"And then there will be nobody left to stop us."

Tarkin then turned to Robotnik.

"Doctor. Lord Vader has delivered his report to us. It is most...disturbing," he said.

"Governor, allow me to-"

"You had an active Rebel cell on your watch, contrary to your own monthly reports, damage assessments, and reasons for delay on material shipments to our industrial sectors. You assured us that your own droid forces alone would provide adequate security for our interests in the Mobia Sector. I will give you one chance to explain yourself," said Tarkin.

Robotnik endured glares from all the Imperials, including Vader. Snively sniggered quietly, but when Robotnik glared at him, he went silent. Robotnik then turned to address the Imperials.

"Well, Gentlemen. When I began to step up my efforts to completely conquer the planet Mobius, one trouble-making-teenager has made me tear every hair from my beautiful head!"

"You never had hair, you miserable drama queen..." said Snively.

"What was that, Snively?!"

"Oh, nothing, sir."

"Yes. Lord Vader's report indicated you allowed a small band of juvenile delinquents to rally a resistance against you. Your actions may have given us access to the vast untapped resources of Mobius, yet, you allow a mere boy of fifteen years old to inflict considerable damage to our operations and cost us six months of Star Destroyer construction materials," said Tarkin.

"That Hedgehog is no ordinary juvenile delinquent, Governor Tarkin. That Hedgehog possesses powers that I have spent the last five years trying to understand! And now he has made a fool out of me!" said Robotnik.

"And among the prisoners taken were five Rebel Alliance Operatives operating in that sector. And they were affiliated with these...local resistance groups. That proves the Rebellion was plotting against you, and now they intend to disrupt our operations in that sector. That is not something we will allow, Doctor," said Tarkin.

"I would have found them! They have proven most...elusive," said Robotnik.

"And yet our probe droids easily found their hideout within hours of Lord Vader's arrival, located in the woods outside the city limits. I must concur with Lord Vader's decree, Doctor. We will now maintain a full-time fleet and garrison presence on that planet, and we will restore order to the fuzzball rabble."

"They may have destroyed my chemical plant and hindered my ability to produce my new chemical weapon, but they know nothing about the project it was intended for. I have kept all that information off my main computer systems. They think they've stopped my plans, their hopes are raised too soon," said Robotnik.

"Yes, and it is that project alone that spares you this time, Doctor. But mark my words, a failure of this caliber again, and it will cost you quite dearly," said Tarkin.

"Understood, Governor. And with those Freedom Fighters routed, no further delays will take place," said Robotnik.

"It had better, Doctor. As you well know, he has proven quite capable of delivering what we want."

Robotnik clenched his fist at the mention of whomever Tarkin mentioned.

"Those rabble will be taken to Kessel for processing, their leader is in our custody. There will be no one to stop us this time," said Vader.

"Let go of me! LET ME GO!" said Sally.

Sally was being dragged to a holding cell by two Imperial Troopers, literally, and they opened a cell.

"I AM NOT GOING IN THERE! LET ME-"

But Sally was thrown onto the ground, and as she got up, she charged the guards, but the door was slammed shut in front of her.

"I won't let you win! I'll never let you win!" said Sally.

Sally banged the door a few times, gradually slowing as her eyes teared up in frustration.

"It won't do you any good, banging it like that."

Sally turned around and saw a human woman in her late teens, dressed in white robes and had her hair rolled up into two buns on each side of her hair.

"Wha...what do you mean?"

"They want you to be vulnerable for when they interrogate you for information,"

"But...but I don't know anything! I don't even know why I was even brought here!" said Sally.

"You wouldn't be here if you didn't. And you must be important if they brought you in here with me."

"I've endured interrogations before. I can take whatever they throw at me."

"If that were true, you wouldn't be acting like, well, like this."

"Hold on a minute, you're not making much sense. Who are you?"

"My name is Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan."

Sally was surprised and her curiosity sparked.

"Princess? Alderaan? Is...is that another planet?" she said.

"Yes," said Leia.

"Well, my name is Princess Sally Acorn of the planet Mobius. I'm the leader of-"

"Don't."

"Why?"

"They may be listening. They may have a listening device or two somewhere in here. There's a reason they put us together. They're just waiting for us to say something that can be used against us."

"Really?"

"Yes. The less we know about each other, the harder it'll be for the Empire."

"I'm sorry, it's just...my head is spinning right now. I'm having a hard time understanding how this all works. I... I haven't really dealt with the Empire before, much less endured any of their interrogation methods. So, I'm sorry, this is all new to me."

"It's okay. Just stay calm."

Sally took a few deep breaths as she sat down on the bench next to Leia.

"I'll be alright. It's just everything has been happening so fast, I need time to think, how I'm gonna survive."

"It's alright. I know you're afraid. But just stay calm. We're gonna get through this. I have a feeling any moment, the Empire will begin to use torture to try and break us."

"Is it that bad?"

"It can be. But I want you to listen to me. Whatever happens to me, do not tell them anything. You don't know anything about me, and I don't know anything about you."

"I only just met you. Already you're giving me some words that are supposed to make me feel better. But what if they come close to killing you?"

"If they wanted to kill either of us, they'd have done so already, wouldn't they?"

"Fair point. But if you're suggesting I'm gonna give up what I know because they're torturing someone I've only just met, then they have another thing coming. I'm never gonna bend to these...these...tyrants. Not after what they did to me."

But then, the door opened again. Several guards walked in, followed by Vader himself. Sally began to tremble in fear again, but this time, remembering what Leia said, and what Vader did to her father, she took a deep breath and stood firm.

"And now your highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden Rebel base..." said Vader.

Sally and Leia turned to see an Interrogator Droid float into the room, with a loaded syringe ready. Both of them trembled as the droid began to float closer to them, and the door closed.

Meanwhile, the Prison Shuttle carrying the Freedom Fighters exited hyperspace, and began approaching a bright planet where a Star Destroyer was in orbit, waiting to receive it. Aboard the shuttle, the Freedom Fighters were quiet, including Sonic, who was very depressed.

"Twenty minutes to docking," said one of the pilots.

Geoffrey looked back to Jericho and Dayton. Jericho and Dayton simply looked at Geoffrey, who gave a subtle nod and wink.

"I'll be glad to get rid of this load of fuzzballs. They smell," said the younger officer.

"Indeed. Especially the blue one. I meant that colbalt one with the red shoes. He smells like feet that haven't been washed in years," said the older officer.

Dayton slowly began to lean forward. He reached for the heel of his left shoe, pulling a small, sharpened piece of plastic out of the heel, and quickly placed it up his right sleeve.

"And that older Raccoon and that Rabbit, they're cybernetic freaks like those Echidnas I've heard stories about," said the younger officer.

Dayton slowly began to cough, his eyes began to point upwards, like they were about to turn to face backwards.

"Those Echidnas give me the creeps. I wish we'd bombed them into oblivion a long time ag- What the? What's going on back there?" said the older officer.

"HEY! Somebody get back here quick!" said Jericho.

Dayton's coughing grew worse.

"He needs help! He's choking on something! " said Milena.

"Get back here! NOW! MOVE!" said Geoffrey.

The Freedom Fighters were confused by what was going on, they didn't know what the Rebels had planned.

"Forget it, we're almost to the ship. One less to deal with," said the older officer.

"He's foaming at the mouth! He could have rabies!" said the younger officer.

Dayton's coughing grew even more intense.

"Come on! Don't be idiots! It affects you too if he starts biting!" said Jericho.

"Don't let him die! Come on!" said Geoffrey.

"Just wait!" said the older officer.

"We can't risk an outbreak of rabies on our watch!" said the younger officer.

The younger officer approached the door and began to unlock it.

"He could be faking it, you know! You haven't been on this duty for less than a few weeks now!" said the older officer.

The younger officer approached Dayton after opening the door. As soon as he was standing over Dayton, Dayton stabbed the officer in the gut, hard. The older officer reached for his blaster, but Jericho leapt from his seat, despite his arms and legs being chained, and tackled the officer.

"Everyone, down!" said Milena.

The Freedom Fighters ducked to the floor to avoid getting caught in the crossfire of the fight. Geoffrey tried to reach for a blaster, but he saw one of the pilots get up and draw his blaster, Geoffrey ran towards the pilot and tackled him, trying to get ahold of his blaster. Dayton meanwhile knocked the younger officer down, kicking him hard until he was dead, and then rushed to try and help Jericho, who was wrestling with the older officer, who began to fire his blaster randomly at the ceiling. Geoffrey, while wrestling with the pilot, the pilot's blaster began to discharge, one stray shot hit the co-pilot, killing him. The next three shots from the pilot's blaster hit the control panel. Meanwhile, a stray shot from the older officer's blaster hit some maintenance panels, causing them to spark and explode. Dayton finally was able to pull the older officer's arm back, giving Jericho an opening to disarm the older officer, and then kill him by breaking his neck. The pilot's struggles against Geoffrey proved futile, as he turned the pilot's blaster on him, shooting him point-blank in the chest.

"Alright, that's done! Now, let's take control of this shuttle and get-"

But Geoffrey saw the controls were damaged, they even sparked, forcing him to cover his face.

"Uhh...Jericho, Dayton? Do you have a plan regarding...this?"

Jericho turned to Geoffrey after pressing a control button that unlocked all the binders remotely, freeing himself and the others from restraint.

"Oh...not quite." he said.

"Oh brothers..." said Antoine.

"What?! Please don't tell me you managed to shoot up the only thing that'll allow us to fly this thing!" said Sonic.

"Uhh...whoops?" said Dayton.

Milena facepalmed.

"'Whoops?' That's the best you can come up with, Dayton? If you'd gone for the guns quicker, we wouldn't be careening towards..."

"That planet!" said Knuckles.

The planet started to appear in the cockpit window as the shuttle began to fall towards it, gaining speed quickly. Rotor and Tails rushed to the control panel, hoping to regain control, but it was no good.

"The controls are all shot! We can't control this thing! We're going down hard!" said Rotor.

"WE'RE GONNA CRASH! WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" said Tails.

"If we don't make it, it's been fun guys!" said Derek.

"NOT HELPING, DEREK!" said Amy.

"JUST HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!" said Bunnie.

The shuttle continued to go faster as it entered the atmosphere, becoming covered in flames. Within minutes, the shuttle was in the atmosphere, heading straight towards the surface of the planet.

"Brace for impact, everyone!" said Rotor.

The views of sand, mesas, and plateaus were seen in the cockpit window as the shuttle careened towards the surface. Soon, it struck the top of a rock formation, causing it to begin rolling violently, the Freedom Fighters lifted out of their seats, striking any number of the shuttle's walls, as the shuttle continued striking the ground, until it finally went into the ground, breaking apart on impact. Sonic felt himself hitting every surface of the shuttle as it rolled around, breaking into pieces, soon, he struck his head against a bulkhead, blacking out.


	6. Recovery

**Chapter 6: Recovery**

"Ughhhh...where am I? What happened?"

Sonic rubbed his head, hearing ringing in his ear, slowly regaining the strength to lift himself off the floor of the shuttle. He saw everyone in various positions, regaining consciousness from the crash. Jericho got up, rubbing his own head.

"Ugh...my aching head...ow..."

Amy slowly got up as she regained consciousness. She then saw Cream passed out next to her. She crawled over and lifted Cream's head.

"Cream, you alright? Cream? Cream?"

"Uhh...Miss Amy...?" said Cream.

Sonic crawled over to check on Tails.

"Uhhh...Sonic..." said Tails.

"Tails? You alright, little buddy?" said Sonic.

"Boy do I feel dizzy..." said Tails.

As Sonic was helping Tails get to his feet, Derek and Milena came to, and looked at each other.

"Derek...would you mind getting your fat rear off my tail?" said Milena.

"Speaking of, can you get yours off my arm?!" said Derek.

"Hmph," said Milena.

She and Derek worked to get off each other's' appendages. Antoine was checking on Bunnie.

"Bunnie? Bunnie, are you going to be okay?" he said.

"Ugh...yes, Antoine, ah'm alright," said Bunnie.

Rotor slowly got up too, feeling a bit dizzy, but he soon came to.

"Whoa...Everyone alright?" he said.

"I'm okay, I guess," said Knuckles.

Jericho looked out the window.

"Yep. We're down...on a desert planet of all places," he said.

Derek sighed.

"Where it's hot...& dry...with no water in sight. Great," said Derek.

"Well, that definitely sucks," said Milena.

"Oh, you think?" said Dayton.

Rotor tried to access the boarding ramp, but it was apparent it was blocked and inoperable.

"Not getting out this way. We're gonna have to find another way out," he said.

Jericho examined the cockpit window.

"Hey, Knuckles, Bunnie. Come help me smash this," said Jericho.

"Sure thing, sugah," said Bunnie.

Bunnie and Knuckles climbed onto what was left of the control panel next to Jericho, as Knuckles counted down.

"On the count of three...one...two...three..."

The three of them used their strength to punch the window, hitting it over and over until it finally broke open, allowing them to get out. They made sure the broken glass was cleared out of the way.

"Watch the glass," said Knuckles.

Sonic wasted no time racing out of the shuttle, hoping to find civilization in the distance, but he slowed to a halt. All he could see was sand, rocks, and more as far as the eye could see. Sonic dropped to his knees.

"It's hopeless! We're doomed! We're going to die in the middle of nowhere on this desert planet!" he said.

Jericho stepped out, helping Milena out.

"Oh boy...this may be a problem," he said.

"And I thought that Antoine was a drama queen," said Milena.

Tails stepped out, looking up at the two suns in the sky.

"That's definitely not helpful," he said.

"From bad to worse. And I thought the summers back home were bad," said Derek.

"Guys, I have some very bad news," said Geoffrey.

Rotor came out of the shuttle right on cue.

"We checked the supply rations we could salvage, and... well, even if we divide them all up and use them carefully, it still will last only up to about a few days, a week at most if we're lucky," said Rotor.

"Which won't mean much unless we find civilization here," said Milena.

"Don't you all get it? We're gonna die here! Either from starvation, or dehydration, or both, we're never gonna get out of here! And Sally is still out there in the clutches of those vile Imperials! We've failed! We've lost! The battle is lost and the war is over!" said Sonic.

"Sugah-hog, that ain't even true! We're free, ain't we?" said Bunnie.

"Free? FREE?! Bunnie, don't you realize where we are? We're in the middle of a DESERT, and we don't have enough food and water to SURVIVE! And we don't even know if this planet is even inhabited!" said Sonic.

Amy clenched her fist and walked over to Sonic. She then slapped him hard across the face.

"GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF, SONIC!" she said.

"Oui! Your whining iz of no help to us!" said Antoine.

"But Sally's still out there! And we don't even know where she is!" said Sonic.

"We'll find her, sugah-hog! We lost today, but we're still standin'!" said Bunnie.

"Sonic, listen to me! Remember all the times when it seemed hopeless and we'll never get out of it? Well, how is this any different? We'll find a way to survive! We always do!" said Rotor.

"Come on, Sonic! You're still here, aren't you? We escaped the Empire's clutches, didn't we?" said Tails.

"Please, Mr. Sonic, help us, please?" said Cream.

"Chao?" said Cheese.

"C'mon, Sonic! You think you're going to let the Empire bring us down? We've been beaten before, but we've always come back!" said Amy.

Sonic sighed.

"C'mon, Sonic. We're not gonna let some crash ruin our day, will we?" said Rotor.

"As much as I will regret saying this...but...we need your help. We cannot do this without you. If or when we leave this planet, we're going to, as you say: 'crack that Eggman wide open.' What do you say?" said Knuckles.

Sonic looked down at the ground, and then he began to grin.

"You're right, guys! We shouldn't quit now! We're free, and Robuttnik and his Imperial friends are gonna pay. It's gonna take all our elbow grease and brainpower to find a way outta here! Now let's get to work! We got a princess to save!" he said.

"Wow, that pep talk was really great and all, but that still begs the question: How the hell are we supposed to get across this burning desert?" said Milena.

"Gee, 'mom,' isn't that the question of the hour?" said Jericho.

"Will you knock it off, Jericho?" said Milena.

"Well, I think Tails and I can try to search the wreck and see if we can find anything useful. If we pool our resources, maybe we can build a vehicle from scratch, if we're lucky," said Rotor.

"Well, let's get to it, it was cooler in the wreck, anyway," said Derek.

Bunnie looked around, and then turned to Jericho.

"Jericho, you've been all ovah the Galaxy, ah bet. Do you know what planet this is?" said Bunnie.

"Never been here before, but judging by the twin suns, I'd say... this is Tatooine. The Empire has no presence here...or at least they shouldn't," said Jericho.

"What do you mean, 'they shouldn't'?" said Derek.

"Well, this is a desert planet and a haven for criminals, Derek, from what we know," said Milena.

"I know that, 'mom', I meant the part as to why the Empire shouldn't have any presence here," said Derek.

"There's nothing of any real value here, Derek. And considering there are crime syndicates who operate here, they have no reason to come here," said Milena.

"Oh, I almost forgot. The Empire sure did a lousy time checking me, they didn't find this, at least," said Jericho.

He was reaching into his pocket, and pulled out...

"What the? That's NICOLE! How and where did you find her?" said Sonic.

"Sally dropped her on the floor of the command center back home. I picked her up, and before we were captured, I hid her," said Jericho.

"Why didn't you tell us you had her with you, Jericho?" said Amy.

"Uh...aside from being shot at, nearly blown up, and nearly getting killed, what would have happened if the Empire got her?" said Jericho.

"He has a point, y'know," said Sonic.

"Fine, but STOP KEEPING US IN THE DARK, OKAY?!" said Amy.

"Now, now, Amy. No need to start fightin'. Jericho is trained to do this kinda stuff," said Bunnie.

Amy simply pouted.

"By the way, where exactly did you hide her?" said Sonic.

"Uhh...you don't wanna know," said Jericho.

"Hey guys! We found something in the back!" said Rotor.

"What? What is it?" said Tails.

"Best if I showed you!" said Rotor.

Rotor slowly pushed a small hovering platform through the broken cockpit window, and hopped back outside soon after.

"Check it out! A fully functional cargo sled!" said Rotor.

"Rotor, that's designed to haul containers, not people," said Milena.

"Yes, Milena, we can see that," said Jericho.

"What are you thinking, Rotor? You think if we remove the floor plating from this, we can take the seats out of the shuttle and fix them onto the frame?" said Tails.

"Well, if we can salvage some stuff from the shuttle, and put some elbow grease into it, I think we can refit it to do just that," said Rotor.

"We need something to propel it, though," said Tails.

Rotor then looked at Sonic.

"Hey, Sonic, after we retrofit this cargo sled, do you think you can push or at least pull us outta here?" said Rotor.

"Well, I think I can give it a shot? I just need to check my stash of power rings...Good thing the Empire didn't check my secret compartment for the Power Stone...glad I didn't leave it behind either. Let's see here..."

Sonic pulled out one of his Power Rings, but Jericho stopped him.

"Save them, Sonic. We might need them later. And when did you find time to get that Power Stone and hide it?" said Jericho.

"This Hedgehog plans ahead to have a few hiding places. And Rotor lined my backpack to make it easy to smuggle the power stone if the need arises. But it'll be a lot easier if I use a Power Ring," said Sonic.

"Well, we may need 'em later," said Geoffrey.

"And you already have a ton of used ones in there, from the looks of it," said Milena.

"Your point being...?" said Sonic.

"Can't we just get back to work?" said Derek.

"Yes, the sooner the better. Come on, put those brains to good use," said Milena.

Dayton came out, holding a crate.

"I found all our stuff in here! Weapons, equipment, everything!" he said.

"Good," said Jericho as he looked inside, retrieving his blaster pistol in it's holster, and strapping it on.

"Hey, guys...we almost forgot. Thanks for breaking us out of there," said Amy.

"No problem," said Dayton.

"How'd you guys plan that escape anyway? You couldn't have known we'd be captured," said Tails.

"We didn't," said Jericho.

"You did not plan to break out of ze prison?" said Antoine.

"If there's one thing we've been taught, it's always be ready for the worst," said Geoffrey.

"One of my mentors taught me that," said Jericho.

"But how'd you hide that shank?" said Sonic.

Dayton pointed to the lining of his shoe heel.

"Always hide something in the place they never think to look. They never think to look at shoes too closely. I'm never buying another brand of shoe again," he said.

"You guys are good," said Amy.

"If we weren't, we wouldn't have lasted this long against the Empire, let alone Robotnik, just like you," said Geoffrey.

"Fair point," said Amy.

Tails and Rotor, meanwhile, powered down the cargo sled, and it floated down onto the sand. Tails then pouted.

"Aw man...I left my tool set back home! Aw man...my hydrospanners, my fusion cutters...they're all gone!" he said.

"Relax, Tails, I found a repair kit in the shuttle's emergency container, they're not the kind I'd use for this, but it's better than nothing," said Rotor.

Tails beamed in delight when he saw the tools.

"Whoa...this is some high-grade stuff!" said Tails.

"Yeah, good to be using tools that aren't over ten years old. Okay, let's start by getting the floor plates off, hopefully, we can get to the structure beneath, and we can make a good surface to mount the seats, and make enough legroom...," said Rotor.

He then started to mumble calculations to himself, examining the sled.

"Thinking about how were gonna arrange the seats?" said Tails.

"Yeah, it's just barely big enough for most of us, so yeah, this is gonna work. Let's get started," said Rotor.

Rotor and Tails then began to use the fusion cutter to cut off the floor plating off the sled. Sonic turned to Derek, who was helping move some ration containers off the shuttle.

"Derek, can I ask you a question?" he said.

"What?" said Derek.

Sonic pointed to Milena.

"How do you put up with...her?" said Sonic.

"If you can pretend that she isn't always so uptight...I owe her." said Derek.

"You owe her?"

"Yeah, her and her brothers. They saved my life from my idiot brother."

"Your brother? Who was he? What was he like?"

"His name was Kyle, and he was a Hutt in Mobian form."

"What's a Hutt?"

"Oh that's right, you don't know...A Hutt is a large worm-like creature native to the planet Nal Hutta. They dominate most of the criminal organizations in the galaxy. The stereotype is that they're hedonistic thugs with a superiority complex. That's my brother."

"Well, if your brother was so bad, why didn't you stand up to him?"

"I would if I could, had Jericho, Dayton, then later, Milena never showed up. Somehow, Kyle is immune to my powers. He's built like a tank, I tried, but I never succeeded. Jericho bruised his ego and got me out of my own house, but Milena later stood up to him. Long story short, Kyle lost his temper and they helped me capture him."

"What happened to him? Where is he now?"

"Prison. Life. No way he's getting out."

"But how can you put up with Milena if you hate her?"

"Well, after I saved Milena from my brother, I was indebted to her. But she tends to abuse that."

"If she's like that, why don't you just stand up to her?"

"I've tried, but she thinks I have no right to criticize her. I've tried to understand her attitude, but I keep getting stonewalled."

"Or maybe there's another reason. She is pretty easy on the eyes."

Derek leaned in to whisper to Sonic.

"Yeah, she's pretty, but I'd rather eat a raisin than kiss her."

"So you do like her?"

"No. She thinks I'm ugly. I lost my cool and took both her brothers to hold me back."

"Well, maybe if you gave her a chance, she might let you see a whole new side to her."

"Don't be naive, Sonic. She's an ice queen to the core, nothing will ever melt her heart."

Soon, Jericho began to sniff the air.

"What is it, Jericho? You smell something?" said Geoffrey.

"I smell something...upwind," said Jericho.

Antoine leaned towards Bunnie's ear.

"He has ze sense of ze smelly?" he said.

"You'd be amazed, Sugah. He's got a keen sense o' smell," said Bunnie.

Jericho pulled out some Electrobinoculars, and he looked in the direction of the smell.

"I got...I see a landspeeder! In the distance! Two people, two droids!"

"Hooray! We're saved!" said Amy.

"Wait! They could be bandits!" said Milena.

"And how do you know they 'could' be bandits, Milena?" said Derek.

"This is Tatooine, Derek. Take nothing at face value," said Milena.

Soon, the landspeeder came into view.

"No... they don't look like bandits, Milena," said Knuckles.

"So just calm down, 'your highness,'" said Derek.

Milena pouted and glared at the grinning Derek, who was trying not to snigger. Sonic rushed forward and waved his arms.

"Hello! Over here! Help! Need help!" he said.

The landspeeder soon came to a stop near the wreckage. At the controls was a young human male, with an elderly human male sitting next to him. On the back of the speeder was a Protocol Droid and an Astromech Droid. They looked at each other in awe.


	7. New Mission

**Chapter 7: New Mission**

The Freedom Fighters and the Landspeeder riders looked at each other, the driver, a young human male, broke the silence.

"Hello. We saw your shuttle go down. We thought we'd come and look before someone else did. Are you all okay?" said the young man.

"Well, we're alive at least," said Sonic.

"You're all Mobians," said the old man.

"Uh...yeah. It's obvious we are. And we've come a long way from home after we got driven away from it," said Milena.

"Beep woop woop dwooo," said the Astromech.

"Wow...is that a real Astromech droid?" said Tails.

"Oh yes, indeed!" said the Protocol Droid.

Rotor beamed.

"And is that a... a Protocol Droid? How are you intact for a place like this? And can you speak-?"

"Uh, Rote, chill, please?" said Sonic.

"Anyway...yes...we're a group of Mobian Prisoners/Refugees who escaped the custody of the Empire after they attacked our home village, and we need assistance," said Jericho.

The young man got out of the landspeeder with the old man.

"You know of the Empire?" said the young man.

"You could say that," said Knuckles.

"It's how we're here to begin with," said Derek.

"You do look like you could use some assistance indeed," said the old man.

"Dwooo bwoop bwoop," said the astromech.

"Does anyone know what that little beeping trash can is saying?" said Sonic.

"(Raspberry) Bweep deep!" said the astromech.

"Now, R2, there's no need to be hostile. They don't appear dangerous," said the protocol droid.

"Dweep bop (raspberry)!" said the astromech.

"I beg your pardon, but R2 here has no manners." said the Protocol droid.

"Anyway, I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. Fastest Thing Alive & the Hero of Mobius. And you are?"

"Beep bwoop beep bwoop," said the Astromech.

"I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations. This is my counterpart, R2-D2."

"Uh, hello, R2," said Sonic.

"Beep beep deep bwoop," said R2.

The young man approached Sonic.

"My name is Luke Skywalker."

"Nice to meet ya, Luke," said Sonic.

"Tell me, what were you all planning to do?" said the old man.

"Well, we're hoping to improvise a way to get to civilization. And you are, old man?" said Sonic.

"This is Ben Kenobi. He's a friend," said Luke.

Geoffrey looked closely at Ben.

"Wait a minute...wait a minute. Kenobi...as in... Obi-Wan Kenobi? The Negotiator? I've heard of you! My father told me about you!" He said.

"Very impressive deduction," said Ben.

"I can't believe this! My father spoke of you too. Obi-Wan Kenobi in the flesh?" said Jericho.

"Something you wanna tell us, gentlemen?" said Milena.

"Milena, this man is a Jedi Knight," said Jericho.

"What? That's impossible. The Jedi are all dead," said Milena.

"I most certainly am not dead, not yet," said Ben.

"There are rumors of Jedi that survived the purge, Milena, but nobody knows that for sure, at least we do now," said Derek.

"Sorry to interrupt the geek out, but can we move it along?" said Dayton.

"Yes, we got places to be," said Milena.

"How may we help?" said Ben.

"Well, we were gonna convert this cargo sled and use it as transportation, but maybe..." said Tails.

Rotor and Tails looked at Luke's speeder for a moment.

"Luke, do you think we can rig your speeder to tow this sled?" said Rotor.

"Well, sure. If it'll help. But where are you guys planning to go?" said Luke.

"Depends, anywhere that gets us off this rock. Why? Where are you guys going?" said Sonic.

"We're on an important mission to Alderaan to deliver this little droid," said Ben.

"Wait, Alderaan?" said Dayton.

"Yes, does that mean anything to you?" said Ben.

"Yeah, we have contacts on Alderaan, they might be able to help us," said Jericho.

"If we hurry, we might be able to make it," said Geoffrey.

"'Hurry' is my middle name," said Sonic.

"I thought your middle name was 'the,'" said Knuckles.

Sonic gave Knuckles an awkward stare.

"Rotor and I are working on attaching the seats from this wreck to the sled. Then we'll make a makeshift hitch and get it onto Luke's speeder. It's gonna take a while, though," said Tails.

"R2, make yourself useful and help," said 3PO.

"Bwoop bwoop." said R2.

Jericho then turned to Ben.

"So, Ben..."

"It seems our goals have aligned," said Ben.

"Yes. It appears so," said Jericho.

"You and your party are most welcome to accompany us to Alderaan if you wish," said Ben.

"We'll need all the help we can get! Count us in!" said Sonic.

"Excellent. As soon as we get your sled set up, we'll be on our way," said Ben.

R2 rolled over to help Tails remove the floor plating from the cargo sled. Meanwhile, Rotor directed Knuckles and Jericho to help remove the seats.

"Hey, Sonic. Quick question," said Jericho.

"Shoot," said Sonic.

"You know how to use a blaster?" said Sonic.

"Never really had much use for one. With my speed, I can beat 'em before they get me!" said Sonic.

"Well, today that changes. Even you aren't fast enough to avoid a quick draw or shot to the head. Hey, Dayton," said Jericho.

"Yeah?" said Dayton.

"Show Sonic a thing or two. I don't want him having to throw his shoes at them," said Jericho.

"Sure. C'mon, Sonic. I'll set up some targets," said Dayton.

Sonic grumbled and pouted from Jericho's comment while Dayton escorted him away from the wreckage, to help him practice with a blaster. Sonic was later seen firing at some improvised targets, metal plates with bulls-eyes drawn on them. His accuracy wasn't great, but he was getting there slowly.

"C'mon, Sonic. Front sight lined up with the rear," said Dayton.

"I know that! But it's faster for me to use my Spin Dash on them!" said Sonic.

"Okay. Try and build it up in an area with corners. You'll hit the wall, you're a sitting duck, bang, you're dead. Everyone knows your speed isn't good indoors most of the time. You can't get around tight corners without drifting," said Dayton.

"Yeah, you got a point there, indoor environments with lots of corners are a problem, but I could just throw a few punches if I miss," said Sonic.

"They wear body armor for a reason, Sonic. You really would be better taking your shoes off and throwing them. Keep trying," said Dayton.

Sonic just grumbled, and resumed firing the blaster at the targets, but he was still struggling to hit the center of the targets. But then, he saw Milena arrive, and sit down on a rock. But soon, one of Sonic's shots hit the center of one target, which surprised him.

"Nice. Keep shooting it like that, you'll survive," said Dayton.

Sonic then turned to Milena.

"Yo, Milena. You're friends with Derek, right?" said Sonic.

"Yeah, what of it? Derek and my brothers have been friends longer," said Milena.

"I was wondering: he told me you helped save him from his idiot brother. How did you guys do that? And why does he hang out with you guys when he could have walked away? And how did you two meet? All this time with your brothers and you never met him? I'm just wondering because I heard Derek's side of the story, what's yours? And to be honest, I wanna know a bit more about you guys if we're gonna be working together," said Sonic.

"To answer your first question: Derek's brother Kyle, he was a lazy, self-indulgent idiot who wouldn't work a day in his life. Jericho & Dayton got Derek away from him for a while, but Kyle wouldn't stay the hell away," said Milena.

"What do you mean?" said Sonic.

"Kyle was a bully to the core. He bullied Derek like he wasn't his brother. He made Derek do everything, buy food, clean the house, everything. Whenever I tried to encourage him to leave Kyle for good, Derek was nothing but a baby who wouldn't leave his nest," said Milena.

"Isn't that a bit harsh, Milena?" said Sonic.

"I'm sorry for trying to motivate him. But to be honest, Derek isn't all bad. When he puts his mind to something, he can really accomplish anything. But...he lacks motivation. Derek plays it safe too much. He's rarely done anything risky because he's obsessed with playing it safe. Guess what; nothing is safe, and if you don't take a risk now and then, you won't get far. He's only stayed with my brothers this long because he's a loyal lapdog," said Milena.

"Only half-true, sis. True, Derek is loyal and reliable, but he's not like me and Jericho. He's not trained for this kind of thing, fighting in a war," said Dayton.

"Anyway, one day, I decided enough was enough, Derek wasn't gonna do anything about Kyle, so I took matters into my own hands. I confronted him," said Milena.

"And when you did that, Kyle found you wouldn't be intimidated by him, so he attacked you. Derek protected you, and now he says he owes you and your family," said Sonic.

"Yeah, Derek wouldn't have done it by himself, so I had to do it, until I underestimated how dangerous Kyle was. Derek beat him. He could have done it if he tried if he wasn't trying to be safe all the time," said Milena.

"That's cold, Milena. Derek was right about one thing about you," said Sonic.

"Oh please, I'm just being realistic. I wouldn't have gotten here if I wasn't afraid to take a few risks. To answer the latter part of your question, I didn't meet Derek until three years ago, not long after I met my brothers," said Milena.

"Wait, what? 'Met your brothers'?" said Sonic.

"Milena didn't grow up with Jericho and me. She was given up for adoption by our father, for reasons we don't know," said Dayton.

"Yeah, I grew up with a pair of adoptive parents, really good people. They were affluent, they had money, gave me a good education and upbringing. Until the coup, we lived in refugee camps and flophouses until I went to boarding school," said Milena.

"Well, how did you meet your brothers? And you still haven't told me how you met Derek?" said Sonic.

"Funny, of all things, we met in a bar," said Milena.

"Yeah, of all the crazy coincidences in the world...we met a woman who turned out to be our own sister," said Dayton.

"I was just out of school at the time, getting out in the world. I was celebrating, then these two offered to pay for it. We didn't realize it at the time. I found it funny I kinda looked like Dayton here, but that didn't set off any alarms. When I asked them what they did, they said: 'We fight the good fight,' I just knew that was a euphemism. Nobody wears a gun on Mobius unless they have good reason. And I knew a few people who put it that way," said Milena.

"Must have been awkward, trying to pick up a girl who turns out to be your sister," said Sonic.

"That would have been awkward and embarrassing. The next day, some friends of mine organized a protest against Robotnik's preferential treatment practices, including the Blacklist," said Milena.

"What's the Blacklist?" said Sonic.

"It's a list Robotnik keeps, people who are to never be Roboticized," said Milena.

"Wait, what? Had we known about that, we would've-"

Milena held her arm out.

"It's not that easy. Only a few people can get it. And only Robotnik himself has the authority to put your name on the Blacklist. You have to swear loyalty to the Empire and never to take up arms against them. Anyone who is caught not following that simple rule..."

"They get turned into metalheads, I get it. You don't think I haven't seen people get turned into droids?" said Sonic.

"Considering your line of work...yes. Anyway, it was a perfectly legal protest. But...what do we get? A bunch of droids led by Snively, order us to disperse or 'face the consequences,'" said Milena.

"You should realize that whenever he says that, you're pretty much done for regardless, right?" said Sonic.

"I argued our case, and Snively responded by ordering the droids to fire into the crowd. One hundred people were killed in that one. I took one right in my belly here. If I hadn't mentioned it to Jericho and Dayton the night before, they wouldn't have been there to bail me out," said Milena.

"Ouch," said Sonic.

"Then came the insane part," said Milena.

"'Insane part?' How could it get worse than that?" said Sonic.

"I needed some blood transfusions, and the first thing that got our attention was that we had the same blood type. Next, we found out we had the same hereditary blood disorder. That got us wondering something, Jericho asked the medic to perform a DNA test, I thought he was crazy, but you can guess how that turned out," said Milena.

Sonic looked at Dayton, then at Jericho, then turned back to Milena.

"You found out Jericho and Dayton were your brothers," said Sonic.

"I'll tell you, it was no secret to me I was adopted, I thought I might meet my real family someday, only..."

"You guys met in some bar, and a series of events brought you back together," said Sonic.

Sonic fired at the targets again, getting closer to the bullseye.

"What did you expect? Jericho says Dayton and me would have been too young to remember one another. Jericho himself, after he lost that arm and hand, his memory is so messed up, he barely remembers anything about his childhood," said Milena.

"So, what happened after that revelation?" said Sonic.

"At first, I was upset. I didn't want to get involved in that mess, not one that required me to pick up a blaster and shoot people. I went home to my now-ex-fiancee, Chris. He was some rich kid, family owned a few factories, they were loaded, and I told him about my brothers. You know what he did next? And I couldn't believe this. He sold me out," said Milena.

At that moment, Sonic fired a shot and missed upon hearing that part.

"What?! Why would he do that to you? The woman he loved?! And I thought Antoine was a coward," said Sonic.

"I am hearing zat, Sonic!" said Antoine.

Sonic and Milena ignored him.

"It was all so he could earn Blacklist protection for giving up me and two Rebel agents. The next day, I looked him in the eye when he told me there was nothing wrong. When I saw him acting nicer than usual, I just knew it. I knew he'd sold me out. Chris hated war, but I never imagined he would sell me out anyway. I evaded capture, met up with my brothers again. That's how I met Derek," said Milena.

"That's how you met Derek?" said Sonic.

"Jericho asked him to keep an eye on me, find out more about me. They saw Chris meeting with Snively that night, offering me on a silver platter. Derek was told to get me out of there, and he did," said Milena.

"Heh, too bad he didn't get to meet your ex-boyfriend. I wish I saw a holorecording of that. Hey, I think I'm getting the hang of this!" said Sonic.

Sonic had finally started shooting the bullseyes, though just barely.

"Derek did get to meet Chris later on, just before you jumped the gun. In fact, he got to meet my family and friends, at least my new ones," said Milena.

"Really? I'd have paid to have seen that," said Sonic.

"Ask us about it later," said Dayton.

"So yeah, I do good things, but when it comes to Derek, I just think he needs to start taking a few more chances to try and show people he's not helpless," said Milena.

"People work at their own pace, Milena. Me? I managed to get this far in a Sonic second! Hey, Dayton, how am I doing so far? Looks like I'm a quick learner! And Sal says I can't learn!" said Sonic.

"That's looking better, Sonic. Just remember, don't shoot off your own foot, your job depends on it," said Dayton.

"I try to avoid that y'know. And speaking of learning, I take it you didn't think much of Derek when you met, Milena? And vice versa?" said Sonic.

"You think? Derek bores me. He may have saved my life once, but having to endure his whining is harder than organizing events with Jericho," said Milena.

"What do you expect? Even we, the Freedom Fighters, we didn't do much before all this. I think you expect too much from people, Milena. You need to lighten up," said Sonic.

"Please, nobody takes you that seriously when you don't push yourself. If you don't push yourself, you don't get very far. I learned this rather quickly from my foster dad," said Milena.

"So belittling them is the way to do it? Derek was right about that, too. How am I doing now, Dayton?" said Sonic.

"That'll do for now, Sonic," said Dayton.

"Hey, sugah-hog. Y'all think you're good?" said Bunnie.

"I am so good, Bunnie, shootin' blasters ain't hard once you get the hang of it," said Sonic.

"Oh yeah?" said Bunnie.

Bunnie took one of the blaster rifles from the wreckage, and she took aim at the targets. She then fired at each one in rapid succession, hitting the bullseye each time. Sonic was surprised, Dayton clapped.

"Not bad, Bunnie," said Dayton.

"Ah grew up on the farm, Dayton. Shootin' is an acquired skill," said Bunnie.

"Oui, oui, and Sonic, you do not treat zat weapon like ze toy. Allow moi to show you ze proper way," said Antoine.

"Oh brother..." said Sonic.

Antoine slowly drew his gun, took aim and fired at the target, but missed. He then adjusted his grip to a two-handed grip and fired again, but this time, the shot ricocheted, and almost hit Sonic's foot.

"HEY! WATCH IT, ANT! You almost shot my foot off!" said Sonic.

Antoine gasped at the ricochet, and Sonic's outburst, but he simply pouted.

"The proper way, huh?" said Dayton.

Meanwhile, Tails and Rotor, with the help of R2, were busy bolting the seats down using tools they recovered from the wreckage.

"R2, make sure those bolts are secure. Tighten them good so the seats don't wobble around," said Tails.

"Bweep. Bwoop Bop. Click click bwoop woooo." said R2.

"What did he say? My droidspeak is a little rusty," said Rotor.

"He says he'll do that, Master Tails. But he suggests not making them too tight, so it won't cause stress to the frame," said 3PO.

"Noted," said Rotor.

Rotor worked to tighten the bolts just enough, as R2 suggested.

"I do say, you must have great intelligence to improvise something like this, Master Rotor and Master Tails," said 3PO.

"It's what we're good at, 3PO. We build all kinds of stuff from junk all the time. But we never got our hands on an Astromech, that would have saved us all kinds of trouble. Anyway...that ought to do it. Tails, give it a try," said Rotor.

Tails climbed onto the sled, and sat down in the front row. He bounced himself up and down to see if anything happened.

"How is it, Tails?" said Rotor.

"It's holding up well on my end. How does it look? Will the frame hold up under the weight?" said Tails.

"Beep beep bwoop click click!" said R2.

"He says it will. This is most grand, Master Tails and Master Rotor. Your design will work splendidly!" said 3PO.

"About time. Now I know what Derek meant about the heat," said Rotor.

Rotor wiped the sweat off his brow, as he and Tails turned to Luke.

"Is that tow cable ready, Luke?" said Tails.

"Yep. Just need you to see if it'll work," said Luke.

Tails walked over and made sure the tow cable was properly bolted on, so it wouldn't tear off anything off the landspeeder.

"Okay, let's hitch it up, and we'll be ready to go," said Tails.

"Hey everyone! We're almost ready here!" said Luke.

Tails and Rotor slowly pushed the sled closer to the landspeeder, and then attached the tow cable to the sled, making sure it was properly attached and secure. Tails then gave a thumbs up. Sonic then came to look.

"Way to go, Rotor and Tails!" said Sonic.

"You sure this thing will hold up everyone's weight?" said Luke.

"Sure. Rotor and I rigged a few power cells from the Shuttle to the repulsors on the sled, that should give it more power to prevent it from sinking too much," said Tails.

"Ah yes, at least we won't be walking across ze runes of sand, no?" said Antoine.

"'Dunes', not 'runes', Antoine," said Bunnie.

"We can fit all but three of us on this thing," said Tails.

"I'm not worried about that," said Sonic.

The group gathered whatever they could carry on one another's person, including weapons and supplies, like food rations. They then began to climb onto the sled for the ride, except for Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. Sonic began stretching.

"Are you going to proceed on foot, Sonic?" said Ben.

"Yup!" said Sonic.

"Tails and I will go with him. We do this all the time," said Knuckles.

"Sonic, are you sure you can keep up with us?" said Luke.

Sonic just smirked, then he laughed.

"I think the real question is, Luke, do you really think you can keep up with me?" said Sonic.

"I don't understand, what do you mean by-?"

But just as Luke started to move the landspeeder, Sonic raced away like a blaster shot, leaving a big gust of wind in his wake. Tails and Knuckles chased after him.

"Oh my!" said 3PO.

"WEEEEEOOOOWWW!" said R2.

"Oh my..." said Ben.

The Freedom Fighters laughed.

"Does that answer your question, Luke?" said Amy.

"What? You thought Sonic called himself 'the Fastest Thing Alive' to simply inflate that galaxy-sized ego of his? That Hedgehog breaks the sound barrier at least five to ten times a day," said Jericho.

Luke drove the Landspeeder, towing the Freedom Fighters in the sled, trying to catch up, when they saw Sonic ahead, running at a slower speed, to allow them to catch up. Tails and Knuckles were working hard to keep up. Tails flew to the left of the Landspeeder.

"See? It's not easy keeping up with Sonic!" said Tails.

"It's harder than it looks," said Knuckles.

"So what? This planet is perfect to roll around at the speed of sound! We got places to go, so we gotta follow our rainbows!" said Sonic.

"Follow our rainbows?" said Luke.

"Don't ask. Long story," said Knuckles.

Tails then flew next to the sled.

"Jericho. Back there, you said Ben was a...what was he called?" said Tails.

"A Jedi Knight. The Jedi were an Order of Force-users who defended peace and justice in the Old Republic. That is until the Empire wiped them out," said Jericho.

"Ze Force? What is zis Force you speak of?" said Antoine.

"It's an energy field that gives the Jedi their powers. They can do amazing things with it from what I know," said Jericho.

"That's good. Very good. There are people in the Galaxy who haven't disregarded the Force as an ancient religion," said Ben.

"But from what I know, anyone who can use the Force are as rare as shooting stars," said Dayton.

"These days, yes. But over nineteen years ago, during the Clone Wars, they were numerous. It was amazing," said Geoffrey.

"In other words, we're really lucky to have met Master Kenobi, in this day and age, any Jedi is more valuable than ten of Sonic," said Jericho.

"I can still hear you, y'know!" said Sonic.

"Wait until you see what a Jedi's weapon is," said Derek.

"What did you say, Derek?" said Sonic.

"Oh, nothing," said Derek.

"Let us focus on the task at hand, we're almost at our destination," said Ben.

"Last one there is a rotten Eggman!" said Sonic.

Sonic raced off, keeping close to the Landspeeder as they raced onwards to their destination.


	8. New Allies

**Chapter 8: New Allies**

The Freedom Fighters, along with Luke, Ben, and the droids, stopped atop a mesa overlooking a city.

"Mos Eisley Spaceport. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious," said Ben.

"I've seen 'scum & villainy' before. How bad can it be?" said Knuckles.

"Don't jinx it, Knucklehead!" said Sonic.

Later, the group made their way into the city limits. The Freedom Fighters were astonished by how busy the spaceport was, despite the arid climate. Everywhere there were droids repairing old and rusted starships, many strange creatures, including Jawas. But as they headed down the street, they saw a checkpoint up ahead. Sonic prepared to fight, but he felt Ben's arm push against him. Sonic looked and saw Ben shake his head, confusing him. Ben then put his finger to his lips as they slowed to a stop. Meanwhile, Jericho, Dayton, Geoffrey, Antoine, Bunnie, and Rotor kept their hands near their blasters, but kept cool. A stormtrooper officer approached Luke.

"How long have you had these droids?" he said.

"About three or four seasons," said Luke.

"They aren't for sale if you want them," said Ben.

"Lemme see your identification," said the trooper.

Ben then slowly raised his fingers.

"You don't need to see their identification," said Ben.

"We don't need to see any of your identifications," said the trooper.

"These aren't the droids you're looking for," said Ben.

"These aren't the droids we're looking for," said the trooper.

"They can go about their business," said Ben.

"You all can go about your business," said the trooper.

"Move along," said Ben.

"Move along. Move along," said the trooper.

Sonic and Tails looked at each other awkwardly, then they turned to Knuckles, then to the other Freedom Fighters, who mostly were befuddled, except for Jericho and Geoffrey, who simply were trying not to snigger. But they soon continued on down the street, stopping at the entrance to a cantina. A Jawa approached Luke's speeder.

"Oh, I can't abide those Jawas. Disgusting creatures," said 3PO.

Luke got out and sent the Jawa away.

"Go on," he said.

The Freedom Fighters were disembarking when Luke turned to Ben.

"I can't understand how we got by those troops, I thought we were dead," said Luke.

"Yeah, how 'did' we get past 'em so easily?" said Sonic.

"I'm wondering that too, old man," said Knuckles.

"The Force can have a strong influence on the weak minded," said Ben.

Antoine and Bunnie simply looked at each other, confused.

"He sounds a bit like my great-grandfather," said Knuckles.

Cream leaned in to whisper to Amy.

"That Mister Kenobi is a very strange man, Amy," she said.

"Chao..." said Cheese.

"Sounds like a crazy old wizard to me, despite what Jericho and St. Jerk say," said Amy.

Luke then looked at the cantina.

"Do you really think we're gonna find a pilot here that'll take us to Alderaan?" he said.

"Well, most of the best freighter pilots are to be found here, only watch your step: this place can be a little rough," said Ben.

"I'm ready for anything," said Luke.

Sonic then turned to Tails, Amy, and Cream.

"Hey, listen, speaking of 'a little rough,' maybe you three should stay outside and watch the speeder," he said.

"What? Why? We've handled worse!" said Amy.

"Come on, Sonic! How bad can it be?" said Tails.

"It's a bar, kids. It's full of drunk people, do the math. Kids aren't welcome here," said Jericho.

"What he said. We know nothin' about this place so who knows what'll go down in there?" said Geoffrey.

"Besides, dealing with loads of drunk people can get pretty rough," said Dayton.

"He has a fair point," said Knuckles.

Amy simply pouted.

"Fine, we'll stay here, since it makes you so happy that I don't get to do anything!" said Amy.

"And we are not needing to emphasize not talking to strangies," said Antoine.

Rotor facepalmed.

"I think you mean-"

"I know what he meant, Rotor!" said Amy.

Amy continued to pout, as did Tails as they sat on Luke's speeder with Cream and Cheese.

"Come along, R2," said 3PO.

"Whistle, bweep, (raspberry.)" said R2.

Inside the cantina, they saw the patrons were from various races, and the air smelled of fumes and alcohol. Sonic and Knuckles winced.

"Smells like the Silvanus river on a good day, and that's saying a lot," said Sonic.

Knuckles gagged.

"No, it smells like-"

"Hey! We don't serve their kind here!" said the bartender.

"What?" said Luke.

"Your droids! They'll have to wait outside, we don't want them here!" said the bartender.

Luke turned to 3PO.

"Why don't you wait out by the speeder, we don't want any trouble," said Luke.

"I heartily agree with you, sir," said 3PO.

As 3PO and R2 went back outside, the Freedom Fighters began to sit down, and Jericho, Dayton, Derek, Milena, and Geoffrey sat at the bar.

"I could use a drink. Derek? Want anything?" said Jericho.

"Nah, nothing for me," said Derek.

"Come on, little bit won't get you that intoxicated," said Milena.

Derek pointed to the shadier-looking thugs all around.

"Tell that to them. You think I wanna end up like them? Blowing my money on nothing but ale? No thanks. No alcohol for me," said Derek.

"Well, hand over a credit chit and we'll..." said Geoffrey.

Sonic waved at Geoffrey and Jericho's faces as they started to stare.

"Yo! Mobius to St. Jerk and Jericho! Yo! What are you lookin' at?"

Jericho and Geoffrey were distracted by the sight of a female dark blue Mobian Hedgehog, a darker shade than Sonic's, sitting at a table with two Twi'leks, a male and a female, they were just starting to talk.

"I found her, Mr. & Mrs. Ba'jide. I found your daughter, and I convinced her to leave her...ahem...boyfriend. She's waiting outside for you," she said.

"Thank you, Ms. Nasler, thank you so much," said Mrs. Ba'jide.

"Teenagers, they think they know how to handle themselves, or what they're getting into," said Mr. Ba'jide.

"Trust me, I know how that feels. Your daughter really thought she could make a legit dancing career with the company she kept, boy was she wrong," said the lady.

"As we promised, we'll pay you the full five thousand for finding her and convincing her to come home," said Mrs. Ba'jide.

"No. You guys are on hard times as is, you keep your money. Get her back into school, set her straight," said the lady.

"Oh no, please, we insist, Ms. Nasler. At least take one thousand five hundred for your troubles. You put yourself at risk, it's the least we can do," said Mr. Ba'jide.

"Well, okay. Only because you said 'please,'" said the lady.

The lady took her payment, and the Ba'jide family stood up to leave.

"Thank you again, good honest people like you are hard to come by," said Mr. Ba'jide.

"You're welcome."

As the Ba'jides left, the lady turned and saw Jericho, his siblings, Derek, and Geoffrey at the bar, and began to approach.

"Oh no...Seraphine...as if I didn't have enough problems today," said Jericho.

"What an unbelievable coincidence, meeting you out here of all places," said Seraphine.

"More freak than unbelievable, mercy-giver. One I hope is short lived," said Jericho.

"Jericho, that's no way to treat an old friend," said Seraphine.

"Uh, Jericho, who is this? What is she talking about?" said Derek.

"Derek Alddelfor, meet Seraphine Nasler. Mercenary-for-hire and one of the many pains in my tail," said Jericho.

"Pain in your tail, you say?" said Seraphine.

"You heard me, mercy-giver," said Jericho.

Antoine cringed when Jericho said the later part of his sentence, Bunnie was confused, and leaned in to whisper.

"Mercy-givah?" she said.

"It iz ze word for those with ze blood of Mercia, like moi. It iz a reference to our earlier history when we were...known for surrender or mercy, for rather naive reasons," said Antoine.

"Oh...okay," said Bunnie.

"Dayton, Milena, and St. John. You're still hanging around with this hard nosed boy scout," said Seraphine.

"Uh, yeah, this is my brother we're talking about," said Dayton.

"And he is family, so we're sticking with him," said Milena.

"Quite the coincidence, us running into you here of all places," said Geoffrey.

"Could say the same thing about you, this isn't your type of place. Tell me, what brings you out here?" said Seraphine.

"Well, we wouldn't even be here if Sonic here didn't jump the gun," said Jericho.

Sonic pouted.

"Just let me live it down, okay?" he said.

Seraphine looked at Sonic and the rest of the Freedom Fighters.

"Not exactly the right age demographic for this joint. Who are these guys?" said Seraphine.

"Robotnik's biggest pain in the tail, that's who," said Jericho.

Seraphine eyes popped a bit.

"Ohh...you're the famous Sonic the Hedgehog."

"The one and only, lady," said Sonic.

Seraphine turned back to Jericho.

"He jumped the gun on what?"

"He blew up one of Robotnik's Chemical Plants, which in turn blew up one of the Imperials' factories...guess," said Jericho.

"Oh no, he didn't," said Seraphine.

"Yup, the Empire came and took charge, now things have gone to hell back home," said Milena.

Seraphine sighed and facepalmed.

"Damn, I thought things couldn't get any worse back there," she said.

"Har har, very funny, now please let me live it down," said Sonic.

"Not a chance, boy. You got us into this mess, you're never living this one down," said Geoffrey.

Sonic stuck his tongue out.

"So, why come to this sand dune? I doubt you're gonna find much help," said Seraphine.

"We are trying to find some transportation to Alderaan," said Rotor.

"Doesn't Jericho have his own ship? Why stop here if you...oh...lemme guess, you didn't come here on your own accord," said Seraphine.

"Oh you think, lady?" said Sonic.

"Lots of good pilots here, couple will get you there at a reasonable price," said Seraphine.

"Move along, Seraphine, we don't have time to have our desperation played at," said Jericho.

"That's not what your bosses thought, they pay top credits to use my sources," said Seraphine.

"Rule of thumb: Never pay for intel you can otherwise find yourself," said Jericho.

"Unless you got something that can help us out here, we're not interested," said Dayton.

"It's a good thing you're here, I was gonna come to you anyway," said Seraphine.

"With what? Another supply shipment? Another spy outpost? Your intel is getting easier to come by, mercy-giver," said Jericho.

"Nope. This time, my best source says it's for real," said Seraphine.

"Your best imaginary source?" said Jericho.

"What does that mean?" said Derek.

"Seraphine has a lot of contacts who give her jobs and intel, that's why we even deal with her, she's got connections back home, shady ones. We've confirmed who each and every one of them are, except for this one," said Milena.

"It's an important part of my job, Milena. Lots of other mercs back home do the same thing," said Seraphine.

"It also allows you to prey on our desperation. Lots of times, they double-dip, take our money, then take the Empire's hefty bounty for Rebel agents, which is getting progressively higher over time, which leads me to my usual question to you: are you on the take?" said Jericho.

"Hey, I'm not taking any money from those guys, you know any of our people who've cooperated, it never ends well," said Seraphine.

"What does that mean?" said Sonic.

"Guess," said Seraphine.

"Become metal-heads; right," said Sonic.

"But what's so special about this intel source? Why can't we confirm who it is?" said Derek.

"Because she's either swindling us or in cahoots with this...source," said Jericho.

"And his intel has been right so far, hasn't it?" said Seraphine.

"Just get to the point, Seraphine, what is it your source says is real?" said Geoffrey.

"A Chaos Emerald," said Seraphine.

Sonic spat out his drink in surprise.

"Wait a mo'! Someone say something about a Chaos Emerald?" he said.

"I don't have specific details on where exactly, just that the Empire has one," said Seraphine.

"You're joking, the Empire has Chaos Emeralds?" said Rotor.

"That's not good," said Knuckles.

"Who is your source? How can we contact him?" said Sonic.

"Well, to be honest, nobody knows his real name, he's real paranoid, and anyone who tries to get information, they lose contact for good," said Seraphine.

"How do you know it iz a 'he' if you have never met him?" said Antoine.

"Because she's making this up, trust me," said Jericho.

"Shut up, you. I'm not making it up, I'm honestly assuming it's a 'he', I could be wrong. Like I said, this guy is going to great lengths to be anonymous," said Seraphine.

"What's his name?" said Sonic.

"He calls himself 'X-File,'" said Seraphine.

"That's a stupid name, I know I've heard it somewhere on the Holonet," said Geoffrey.

"Me too, that's why it's a fake," said Jericho.

"Don't listen to this hard-nose, when it comes to anything big with Robotnik, X-File knows. Me and several other mercs have been getting intel from this guy for the last seven years, and usually, it's right," said Seraphine.

"How do y'all know that for sure? You sure are puttin' faith in a guy you've nevah even met before. What if Jericho is right on one thing? What if it's a scam?" said Bunnie.

Seraphine raised her right hand.

"I swear on my parents' graves. X-File knows everything going on with Robotnik. But it's rarely anything big. Usually, all I get is intel on his little things, you know, weapons, informants, weak-links in his organization, but on occasion, I get stuff like this, the Chaos Emerald. And I don't blame you for being skeptical, when I started using X-File, I thought it was crazy too. Here, I can-"

But then, they heard noise, an Aqualish thug shoved Luke, appearing to say something to him in his own language. Luke simply turned away, until a man tapped on Luke's shoulder.

"He doesn't like you," said the man.

"Sorry." said Luke.

The man forcefully grabbed Luke to face him.

"I don't like you either! You just watch yourself! We're wanted men! I have the death sentence on twelve systems!" said the man.

"I'll be careful, then," said Luke.

The man forcefully turned Luke to face him again when Luke tried to turn away.

"You'll be dead!" said the man.

"Uh oh, this could get ugly," said Geoffrey.

Geoffrey, Jericho, Dayton, and Seraphine put their hands on their blasters, but then Ben stepped in.

"This little one is not worth the effort. Come, let me get you something," said Ben.

The man screamed as he tossed Luke aside, and Luke crashed into a table, he and his Aqualish friend pulled blasters. But before any of the Mobians could pull their guns out of their holsters, Ben drew out a small weapon which emitted a blue blade.

"NO BLASTERS! NO BLASTERS!" said the Bartender.

The two men attempted to fire at Ben, but Ben used his blade to deflect the shot and then slashed the Aqualish's arm off. Luke and the Mobians gazed in awe as they saw the arm land on the floor.

"Whoa...did I just see that?" said Seraphine.

"Yep, that was a Lightsaber. It wasn't the booze," said Jericho.

"Now you see why I don't drink, Milena?" said Derek.

Milena simply glanced at Derek. Ben deactivated his lightsaber. Sonic was still in awe, practically beaming.

"That...was...AWESOME! And I mean AWESOME! Forget a blaster, where can I get one of those things?"

Jericho, Seraphine, Dayton, Milena, Derek, and Geoffrey shushed him.

"What?" said Sonic.

"Did y'all see that?" said Bunnie.

"Yeah, I've never seen a weapon like that before," said Rotor.

"A saber of light. I may have heard something about zat, but it was ze long time ago," said Antoine.

Meanwhile, the Cantina patrons went back to their business as though nothing happened. Ben went over to help Luke up, and gestured the Mobians to come over.

"Whoop, that's our cue," said Derek.

"I'm all right," said Luke.

"Chewbacca here, is first mate on a ship that might suit us," said Ben.

Seraphine looked at whom Ben was referring to, a large Wookiee with a bandolier and a bowcaster on his back, she then got up to join the group.

"Ah yes, I know this guy and his partner. They're real pieces of work," said Seraphine.

"Whatever," said Jericho.

Meanwhile, outside the cantina, 3PO, R2, Amy, Tails, and Cream were watching some Stormtroopers arrive.

"Uh oh..." said Amy.

"It's those mean white men," said Cream.

"I don't like the look of this," said 3PO.

"Dweep," said R2.

"C'mon, Sonic, hurry it up in there," said Tails.


	9. Passage

**Chapter 9: Passage**

As the Cantina Band began playing a new tune, the Freedom Fighters joined Luke and Ben as they sat down with a human male and the Wookiee male.

"Han Solo. I'm captain of the _Millennium Falcon_. Chewie here tells me you're looking for passage to the Alderaan system."

"Yes indeed, if it's a fast ship," said Ben.

"Fast ship? You've never heard of the _Millennium Falcon_?" said Han.

"Should I have?" said Ben.

"Oh boy, here we go again..." said Seraphine.

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs," said Han.

Bunnie leaned closer to Rotor.

"What in hoo-ha a 'parsec'?"

"Some kind of measurement in distance, not time," said Rotor.

"I've outrun Imperial starships. Not the local bulk cruisers mind you, I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now. She's fast enough for you, old man. What's the cargo?" said Han.

"Only passengers. Myself, the boy, a group of Mobian refugees, two droids, and no questions asked," said Ben.

Han laughed.

"What is it? Some kind of local trouble?"

"Let's just say we'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglements."

"We emphasize that greatly, Captain," said Milena.

"Well, that's the real trick, isn't it? And it's gonna cost you something extra," said Han.

"Here comes my favorite part," said Jericho.

"Ten thousand. All in advance," said Han.

Luke grew stunned.

"Ten Thousand? We could almost buy our own ship for that!"

"Yeah! For that kind of money, we don't even need this guy!" said Sonic.

Han turned to Luke.

"But who's gonna fly it, kid? You?"

"You bet I could. I'm not such a bad pilot myself...We don't have to sit here and listen-"

But Ben pulled Luke back into his seat before he could get up to leave.

"How do we know you're serious, Solo? A Fast ship? You're talking to the Fastest Thing Alive, here! Faster than the speed of sound, baby!" said Sonic.

"Faster than the speed of sound, eh? Well, blue boy, try faster than the speed of light," said Han.

Sonic opened his mouth, but he said nothing. The other Freedom Fighters and Rebels tried not to laugh.

"Yeah, I thought as much," said Han.

"Okay, that was worth sitting through this," said Jericho.

"I gotta remember that one, why didn't I think of that one?" said Knuckles.

"Sonic got his own game beaten!" said Antoine.

"Hey, why don't you put a sock in it before I-"

Sonic then felt Ben gently tug his arm to calm him down. Seraphine then came forward.

"Come on Han, Ten thousand is a bit excessive, even for you. These people have had a rough few days, the least you can do is show a little generosity."

"Hey, listen here, Seraphine, what I charge is none of your business. I got my own problems above my fees, and that price is as low as I go," said Han.

Seraphine simply shook her head. Ben then spoke up.

"We can pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen, when we reach Alderaan."

"Seventeen?" said Han.

"And if he doesn't take this offer, old man, I'll take that two-thousand right now and get you off myself," said Seraphine.

Han simply glanced at Seraphine, and then turned back to Ben.

"Okay, you guys got yourselves a ship. We'll leave as soon as you're ready. Docking Bay 94," he said.

"94," said Ben.

"Smart move, Captain," said Milena.

Han then noticed some commotion.

"Looks like somebody's beginning to take an interest in your handiwork," said Han.

"It's ze troopers of ze storm," said Antoine.

"Time to exit stage right," said Dayton.

"And fast," said Sonic.

By the time the Stormtroopers approached Han and Chewie, Luke, Ben, and the Freedom Fighters were gone. They hustled outside.

"You'll have to sell your speeder," said Ben.

"That's okay, I'm never coming back to this planet again," said Luke.

Amy, Cream, and Tails approached the Freedom Fighters as they came out.

"What happened? Did you guys find us a ship?" said Tails.

"And I really hope you did," said Amy.

"Good news is; yes, we did," said Sonic.

"Great!" said Amy.

"Bad news is, we don't have seventeen thousand credits to spare," said Sonic.

"Wait...what?" said Tails.

"Oh relax, our rebel contacts will likely come up with the rest of the fifteen, but we gotta come up with at least two thousand," said Milena.

"Don't take any of my money, it's going into my sister's education fund," said Seraphine.

"Who's that?" said Cream.

"Someone who has intel on a Chaos Emerald," said Sonic.

"What? A Chaos Emerald?" said Tails.

"Yeah. Hey, lady-"

"Seraphine. My name is Seraphine, you idiot. Don't you call people by their names?"

"Sorry. Seraphine. Listen, you think you can stick with us for a while? Just until we have time to talk about that Emerald?" said Sonic.

"Sure. Like I said back there, I've been meaning to take this intel to you guys anyway," said Seraphine.

"No. Just give us the intel and leave," said Jericho.

"Hey, hold it, Jericho. This is a Chaos Emerald we're talking about here," said Sonic.

"She can just give it to us right here, we don't gotta drag her along," said Jericho.

"That's not up to you, is it?" said Knuckles.

Jericho groaned.

"Besides, you'll just take all the credit anyway. I don't give intel directly to you," said Seraphine.

"Fine," said Jericho.

"As long as he keeps his words to himself, I'll be fine," said Seraphine.

"And one more thing. If we pay you the two-thousand, would you get us off this planet?" said Sonic.

"She can't do that with no ship," said Jericho.

Seraphine rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Wait...you don't have a ship?" said Sonic.

"No. I go on shuttles, lot easier to blend in when you don't have something that can stick out," said Seraphine.

"Then why'd you offer it if you couldn't get us off?" said Tails.

"Because, you guys are important, and you need to get back in the fight. I would have found a way, regardless," said Seraphine.

"Well, considering we need to get out of here in a sonic second, Mr. 'Faster than the speed of light' is our best bet," said Sonic.

Knuckles sniggered at Sonic's nickname for Han, causing Sonic to pout.

"Good, that's all settled, now how are we gonna get money?" said Bunnie.

"Oh, I know!" said Amy.

"No Amy, no improv! You'll look ridiculous doing it in public," said Sonic.

"But I wanna-"

Sonic put his hand on Amy's mouth. Tails then got an idea.

"Hey Sonic, what about your rings? We could sell them."

"Whoa! Tails, we're gonna need my rings in case we gotta get out of a jam in a Sonic second!"

Tails chuckled.

"No, Sonic. The expended ones. They're still worth something, right?"

Sonic pulled out one of his expended rings.

"Huh? Oh! Well, why didn't you just say so? Hmm. Well, you think people would pay a lot just for one expended Power Ring?"

"You'd be surprised by how much people would pay for the stuff they don't know about. In fact, I think this is the first time a Power Ring has left Mobius," said Geoffrey.

"Wait a minute, are you saying we have to decieve people?" said Amy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We're not gonna rip people off here!" said Derek.

"You got any better ideas, Derek?" said Rotor.

"The question is, you got any better ideas?" said Derek.

"It iz not ze first time we've had to pawn ze rings for ze monies..." said Antoine.

"Ah remember we bartered them back home for supplies and money from others. We're in a real jam heah, and we may need to have some of the rest of the money in case we run into trouble," said Bunnie.

"She's got a point," said Seraphine.

"And Derek, you know the old saying? Desperate times call for desperate measures," said Jericho.

Derek rolled his eyes.

"Alright, fine, you win. But how are we supposed to sell them?"

"He's got a point there, Sonic. What are we gonna call the rings this time? 'Fashion accessories' quickly went out of style," said Tails.

"It was a great idea at the time! And they do look fashionable!" said Amy.

"And you really think it'll work on this rock, Amy?" said Knuckles.

"What about making them good luck charms? Best not to exaggerate so much on a new planet," said Milena.

"Isn't that already an exaggeration?" said Dayton.

"Does it matter?" said Milena.

"Well, we're short on time & out of options. I say we sell 'em as 'good luck charms.' Everyone is bound to believe anything about it," said Geoffrey.

"I dunno..." said Sonic.

"Let's just get it over with, I don't like sitting in these suns," said Derek.

Sonic handed all four rings out to the group.

"Just make sure we sell all of them, we'll need the cash anyway," said Sonic.

"No problem. How much you think we need?" said Geoffrey.

"Ben negotiated seventeen thousand. Ben and Luke went down a few blocks to sell Luke's speeder," said Derek.

"Which means we need to come up with the rest in case we have a complication," said Milena.

"Yeah, best to have a bargaining chip with a guy like Han," said Seraphine.

"You realize we can buy our own ship with this money, you know? Much faster, in my opinion," said Sonic.

"You're still mad that he outboasted you," said Geoffrey.

Sonic pouted as everyone sniggered.

"Besides, with the Imperials all around, we don't have time for more shopping," said Jericho.

"Then let's get to it," said Derek.

"The Empire ain't waitin' for nobody," said Bunnie.

"Dayton, Geoffrey, & I will wait here. The rest of you, go sell the wares, meet back here when you're ready," said Jericho.

"You sure you guys can play salespeople?" said Dayton.

"Trust us, guys. Sellin' rings is an art form. Just watch the master at work," said Sonic.

Sonic went over to a stand with a human vendor.

"Good afternoon! How would you like to buy a rare, gold good luck ring from Mobius?" said Sonic.

"Good luck rings?" said the vendor.

"Yup! With these rings, you're guaranteed good luck in all aspects of life! You'll get rich, you'll get lots of rewards, lots of opportunities, these rings make good things happen! Just one will make you lucky!" said Sonic.

"Good things, you say?" said the vendor.

"With this good luck ring, I think your business will boom! These things are as rare as crystals! What do you say? Would you rather have a slow day? Or make business go at the speed of sound?" said Sonic.

"Really? I'm a cautious man, how about fifteen hundred?" said the vendor.

"C'mon...you really want this piece of luck? The more money you throw at it, the better your chances..." said Sonic.

"Well...if you say so...how about two thousand?" said the vendor.

"I swear on my Uncle's life, these things are guaranteed to have good luck! You wanna know the secret to their luck?" said Sonic.

"Yes, please," said the vendor.

"They were once used by a great hero of Mobius, they brought him great luck to get him out of any jam, these rings can bring no harm, only way past cool luck!" said Sonic.

"Deal," said the vendor.

"Good deal, my man. Two thousand it is," said Sonic.

Sonic handed the ring to the vendor and recieved two thousand for his little performance. Meanwhile, Tails, Amy, and Cream approached another vendor, another human, the three of them were looking rather miserable.

"Excuse us, mister...can we sell something for some food money?" said Tails.

"Food? Kid, look around you, get in line. But I'm feeling generous today, so what do you have to sell?" said the vendor.

"All we've got is this good luck ring from Mobius, and nobody believes a word we say about it, and needless to say, we've not been very lucky," said Amy.

"If you take it, maybe it'll bring you good luck," said Tails.

"A 'good luck ring'? From Mobius? There haven't been any real trinkets from there in years, how come I've never heard of them?" said the vendor.

"They're the latest fad and the first one to make it off world. Please, sir, we're poor, sick, and hungry! We need the money!" said Tails.

"Look at this poor little girl! She just lost her mother and we're all she has, she barely eaten since," said Amy.

"Please kind sir, she's right...my friends are all I have left..." said Cream.

"Chao..." said Cheese.

"Oh alright, just because you kids convinced me. I'll take that ring off your hands. I'll give you twenty five hundred for it. That'll keep you on your feet, or at least get you transport somewhere else," said the vendor.

"Oh thank you! Thank you!" said Amy.

"We'll ever be so grateful, sir," said Cream.

"Heh, don't mention it," said the vendor.

Tails handed the ring to the vendor and took twenty-five hundred for their troubles. As they walked away, they felt glad.

"Wow, Amy, your plan actually worked," said Tails.

"Well, nobody says no to kids like you two. It was all a matter of making you two sound convincing," said Amy.

"I'm glad we could help, Miss Amy," said Cream.

Knuckles approached a vendor, a Kalleran, around the same time.

"Well, good afternoon. What can I do for ya?" said the vendor.

"Hmmm. Well, I just got into town and I'm wondering if you can do a favor for me," said Knuckles.

"What's that?" said the vendor.

"You see, I almost had a run-in with some Imperial troops upon landing and yet they let me off with a warning after I was accused of stealing some supplies. I was wondering...would you be willing to pay to have that same kind of luck? If so, then this ring will give you that kind of luck," said Knuckles.

Knuckles held the ring up, and the vendor examined it.

"Is that...?"

"Yes. Gold," said Knuckles.

"Ooooo! Gold! My favorite kind of color! Are you sure this will give you me good luck?" said the vendor.

"Yup. Kept me from getting arrested by the Imperials. So what do you say?" said Knuckles.

The vendor turned away and thought for a moment. He then turned back to Knuckles.

"Sure, why not? I'll give ya about...a thousand credits for it," said the vendor.

Knuckles raised his eyebrow.

"Best kind of luck for a thousand? Well, I guess I'll go and get more supplies and see if my luck holds out then," he said.

Knuckles turned to leave, but the vendor held his arm out.

"Alright, I'll give you two thousand! That's as high as I'll go!" said the vendor.

"You got yourself a deal, friend. You won't be disappointed," said Knuckles.

Knuckles handed the ring to the vendor and took his two-thousand credit payment, but not far away, Antoine, Bunnie, and Rotor were preparing to approach a Twi'lek vendor.

"Antoine, are you sure about this?" said Rotor.

"Rotor, it iz one of ze most convincing ideas I, Antoine D'Coolette, can think of zat will get us ze monies," said Antoine.

"Ah ain't so sure, Antoine," said Bunnie.

"Doesn't mean it's not worth a try, Bunnie," said Rotor.

"Then let us be doing it, then," said Antoine.

Rotor cleared his throat, and began walking in panic.

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!" he said.

Bunnie just rolled her eyes. Rotor turned to the vendor.

"Hey, hey you, you gotta help me and my friends here!" he said.

"What's wrong? What's the matter?" said the vendor.

"It's my friend here!" said Rotor.

"I have just learned that I have been engaged to ze marriage to zis madamoiselle!" said Antoine.

"And he only has two days to marry her!" said Rotor.

Bunnie still rolled her eyes, but she played along, regardless.

"Yes, sir! Y'all gotta help us! Please help a bride-to-be, please! Ah can't be disowned by mah family!" said Bunnie.

"OKOKOK! You got my attention! But I can't help you that easily, you gotta sell me something," said the vendor.

"Ze only thing we have is zis ring of fortune from Mobius!" said Antoine.

"Yeah, what he said!" said Rotor.

"Rings of fortune? From Mobius? I've heard a rumor or two about someone there using some kind of magic rings, but I've never seen one," said the vendor.

"What? Don't tell me you've never heard of the Rings of Fortune and what luck they can bring y'all?" said Bunnie.

"Oui, my friend here, he went from ze rags to getting ze riches!" said Antoine.

"Yeah, I came up with this brilliant renewable energy source on Mobius that made me very rich indeed!" said Rotor.

"No way!" said the vendor.

"Yes way! But we're in a real big hurry and we need that money so we can at least start assemblin' our wedding, right hun?" said Bunnie.

"Oui, oui, If I fail in carrying out my committment to zis lady, zey will burn me at ze stake! Zey will take my money, my home, my name, even my honor! And I will be on ze streets wallowing in ze...in ze...Oh no, I don't even have anything to wallow in! I am doomed!" said Antoine.

Bunnie and Rotor tried to keep up the charade, despite them struggling not to roll their eyes.

"Oh, alright. You've convinced me. I've always liked collecting rare, off-world trinkets. How much do you want?" said the vendor.

"And they might shoot me...or worse...even worse...zey will put...margarine on my bread! EEEK!" said Antoine.

Rotor sighed.

"Two thousand is fine," he said.

"All that just for the one? I thought you'd have more!" said the vendor.

"We're kinda in a squeeze here, as you can see. Can you at least take it so I can give my friend here some peace of mind?" said Rotor.

"Oh alright, if you insist. Two thousand for one ring," said the vendor.

Bunnie handed the ring to the vendor and took the two thousand.

"Feels good. I'm feeling lucky already. Good luck on your wedding, and take good care of her," said the vendor.

"Oh thank you, thank you!" said Antoine.

Antoine kissed the vendor's hand, forcing Bunnie to pull him away.

"Let's go, 'hun'!" she said.

As they walked away, Rotor finally let out a big sigh.

"Really, Antoine? You had to give off that convincing a performance?" said Rotor.

"What? You told me to be very convincing," said Antoine.

"Convincing, not overdramatic. Ugh...honestly," said Rotor.

"This is why ah didn't think this was a good plan for us," said Bunnie.

"It worked, did it not?" said Antoine.

Meanwhile, Derek and Milena approached one vendor, a Devaronian vendor.

"Derek, you give it a shot," said Milena.

"I'm not a salesman, Milena. And I still don't like lying to people. These rings can't do anything!" said Derek.

"Listen, Derek. If you're gonna go into business someday, you gotta be able to...you know, be able to sell something," said Milena.

"Yeah well, I didn't get the high education you did. Not everyone does, you know," said Derek.

"Just try it," said Milena.

"Fine, 'your highness,'" said Derek.

Milena crossed her arms as Derek approached the vendor.

"Uh, hello. I was wondering if you'd like to buy this ring?" said Derek.

"Oh really?" said the vendor.

"Yeah, it's...really cool looking, isn't it? It can...maybe bring you good luck?" said Derek.

"I've got enough luck as is, kid," said the vendor.

"You could...uh...use a bit more luck?" said Derek.

"Next," said the vendor.

Derek then pouted and walked back to Milena, who was facepalming in disappointment.

"That...was...weak," said Milena.

"I told you, I'm not a salesman!" said Derek.

"Gimme that ring. I'm gonna try it," said Milena.

"Sure, Princess-Know-It-All, let's see *you* give it a shot and see if you can do better!" said Derek.

"I can't do better. I will do better," said Milena.

Derek crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. But then he saw another stand with items that caught his eyes.

"Hmmm...speaking of which..."

Derek walked over to the stand to look, while Milena approached the Devaronian vendor.

"Excuse me. Sorry about my associate back there, he wasn't quite clear on this ring," said Milena.

"Oh yeah?" said the Vendor.

"He didn't elaborate on what this ring can do for your life," said Milena.

"I've heard that story a million times, lady. It's gonna take more than words," said the vendor.

"Did you know I now own five starships since I got this ring? Got real good prices on them too," said Milena.

"Lady, unless you're as rich as Jabba the Hutt, there's no way you can own that many ships and still look respectable," said the vendor.

"Try me," said Milena.

"Alright, show me a holo of at least one of the ships you own, and I'll reconsider," said the vendor.

Milena produced her holoprojector and displayed one ship that caught the vendor's eye.

"Wait, that's a Dreadnaught! How did you get one of those things?! No, wait...don't answer that. And you said that ring helped you get it?!" he said.

"Not just that one. These two Nebulon B-Frigates and a Corellian Corvette as well," said Milena.

The Vendor began to change his tone of voice.

"Now, uh, I've reconsidered...well, I've thought about it...uh...how many of those Rings do you have again?" said the vendor.

"Just the one makes a difference in life," said Milena.

"I'll give you two-thousand!" said the vendor.

"You're a smart man. They're at least worth that much," said Milena.

The vendor grinned as he handed Milena the two-thousand credits and took the ring in exchange.

"And you drive a real hard bargain, lady! Had I known you owned a few ships, I'd have taken them on the spot! Pleasure doing business with you!" said the merchant.

"You're welcome," said Milena.

But as Milena turned to leave, a gang of thugs, several Grans, Rodians, and a Twi'lek male, approached her.

"Look at this suit, boys. She's obviously loaded," said the Twi'lek.

"Don't move, lady," said one thug.

"One more step and we shoot," said another thug.

Milena quickly reached behind her back and drew out her staff, extending the ends and powering up the electricity.

"Stay back, keep those hands where I can see them," she said.

"Look at this, boys," said the Twi'lek.

"Some Mobian lass who thinks she's tough?" said a thug.

"I know how to use this, and it's gonna hurt bad," said Milena.

"Ha! We've heard that many times from your species, what makes you think you're different?" said the Twi'lek.

Milena responded by striking one of the thugs several times with her staff until he went down on the ground, howling in pain. The Twi'lek snarled.

"You're gonna pay for that, lady!"

"Hold it."

The thugs and Milena turned and saw Seraphine, holding a flechette launcher in her hands, aimed directly at the thugs. The Twi'lek recognized her.

"You!"

"Hi, Kar'zek," said Seraphine.

"You're that mercenary who took my money source. Left three of my guys with broken legs, and one shot," said Kar'zek.

"I hope there's no hard feelings. That was just business. Do you get off on picking on women who are weaker than you? Like that girl, Ma'lay Ba'jide, that naive girl you swindled into leaving her loving parents?" said Seraphine.

"'Just business?' Is that what you call it these days? I get the one chance to run a good business for my boss and you just had to come and ruin all that!" said Kar'zek.

"Step away from that lady, quietly," said Seraphine.

"And what if we don't want to?" said a thug.

"You three on the left go down first, then I put the rest of you down a few at a time," said Seraphine.

Milena noticed Jericho behind the stands, apparently having heard the noise and came to investigate, she could see he had his blaster at the ready.

"Alright, lady, maybe we'll do it your way. How about a trade? This lady, for you, maybe we'll salvage that business," said Kar'zek.

Seraphine simply looked disgusted at what he proposed, but before she could respond, Jericho appeared from behind cover.

"Drop 'em! Now!"

Kar'zek and his thugs turned their weapons on Jericho, but before they could fire, Seraphine fired one blast from both barrels of her launcher, hitting three thugs. Milena, who was right in the line of fire, ducked to avoid being hit. Jericho fired his blaster, hitting one of the thugs, and wounding another. Kar'zek fired back, his shots missing Seraphine's torso, but she had worked the action of her launcher, allowing her to fire again, firing both barrels into Kar'zek, who was also shot by Jericho, knocking him to the ground. One of the remaining thugs raised his blaster to fire, but he soon felt a blade to his neck, courtesy of Dayton.

"Try it, come on, punk," said Dayton.

The other Freedom Fighters came running to help, but by then, most of the thugs were down, two of them ran away. One turned around to try and fire, but Sonic, who was quick to arrive, fired his blaster, hitting the thug in the shoulder. Seraphine soon switched weapons, drawing her pistol. Jericho, as he approached the wounded Kar'zek, kicked his blaster aside. Seraphine then shot one thug who tried to reach for his blaster, and stood over Kar'zek.

"Please...don't kill me, name your price...I'll do anything," said Kar'zek.

"You've done enough," said Seraphine.

Without hesitation, Seraphine fired two shots into Kar'zek.

"What are you doing?" said Jericho.

"I don't leave matters half-done," said Seraphine.

Sonic of course, was upset.

"He was a goner anyway! We don't execute guys like that!" he said.

"This guy lied to little girls for a living, he won't be missed," said Seraphine.

She then turned to the remaining two thugs.

"Tell your boss that this was business, and don't try to come back. Two of these guys will burn down your house for this," she said.

"Y-yes! Wh-w-whatever you want! Let's get outta here!" said the wounded thug, as he and the other thug, whom Dayton let go free, ran off down the block.

"You okay, sis?" said Dayton.

"Yeah. I'm good," said Milena.

Jericho glared.

"What? I just saved your damn sister, you know," said Seraphine.

"You could have hit her with that thing!" said Jericho.

"I denied them a hostage stand-off," said Seraphine.

"Yeah well, that was uncalled for-"

"Excuse me, but unless you two are done squabbling, we'd better juice it loose before the Imperials come looking around," said Sonic.

"She's not coming, end of story," said Jericho.

Seraphine glared.

"Hey, I'm gonna-"

"We could use her help, Jericho. And remember, she has information about a Chaos Emerald," said Sonic.

"He's right, you know. You need that Emerald," said Seraphine.

"C'mon, Jericho, lay off, let's keep moving," said Milena.

Jericho snarled as the group begun to hustle out into a nearby alley before Stormtroopers could come to investigate the scene.

"This way, hurry," said Geoffrey.

"How much money did we get? I got two thousand," said Sonic.

"Amy, Cream, and I got twenty-five," said Tails.

"And Bunnie, Antoine, and I got twenty as well," said Rotor.

"Me too," said Knuckles.

"Me three," said Milena.

"So let me think here, four twenty...plus twenty five...that makes an even ten thousand five hundred," said Rotor.

"Ten thousand five hundred? That's not even close, Rotor! We need seventeen!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, we sold off all your used rings, we're not selling off the ones that you can use," said Amy.

"C'mon, there's gotta be something else!" said Sonic.

"No rings, no saving the day. No saving the day, we're all dead," said Amy.

"She's got a point, sugah-hog, it's the best we got," said Bunnie.

Sonic pouted.

"We tried our best, Sonic, we can negotiate if we have to," said Tails.

"Good luck with that. Han must be in another big jam if he's overcharging us like this," said Seraphine.

"What do you mean, 'another big jam'?" said Geoffrey.

"I don't know what exactly, but I just know," said Seraphine.

"It had better not bite us in the tail, mercy-giver," said Jericho.

"I said, I don't know anything specific! But it's my best guess here!" said Seraphine.

Jericho simply shook his head. The group soon continued their walk towards Docking Bay 94. Derek and Sonic soon approached him.

"Hey, Jericho. What's going on? What's your issue with Seraphine? How do you know her anyway?" said Derek.

"Long story," said Jericho.

"Between this rock and Alderaan, I think we've got time," said Sonic.

"I've worked with her in the past, short time before I met you, Derek. My bosses hired her and several other Mobian mercs to help our understaffed cell on missions," said Jericho.

"She doesn't look bad to me. Maybe rough around the edges, but she seems loyal," said Derek.

"Don't be so trusting, Derek. She's only loyal for that big payday she'll ask for that intel, they all are," said Jericho.

"Kind of ironic, you know? I'm not technically a soldier, you know, I'm a mercenary," said Derek.

"You don't count, you've never taken any job outside the cause, and because I made that promise to your dad," said Jericho.

"I'm loyal to you. You gave me a real job as a favor to my dad. As for Seraphine, maybe she wants more than just money. Besides, mercenaries aren't that uncommon in other cells," said Derek.

"I don't trust anybody who's loyalty has a price, Derek. I had friends who decided their loyalty stemmed from wallets and criminal endeavors, I'm not about to change my stance now," said Jericho.

"What do you mean? If she wanted money, she'd have asked for it by now. She appears to understand how important Chaos Emeralds are," said Sonic.

"Her intel may be good at times, but it's nothing I can't find myself. Even so, she's given us plenty of intel that's bad, got two of my guys killed, and almost got Dayton killed once," said Jericho.

"You serious?" said Derek.

"Dead," said Jericho.

"That is mondo ugly, but I think you're generalizing, there's no reason to let your bias get in the way here," said Sonic.

"I don't know what's she's up to, but she's changed over the last year or two," said Jericho.

"Changed? Changed how?" said Sonic.

"Don't think I'm too one-track minded, but she's begun asking for less money and even started giving us intel pro-bono, including now, with this Chaos Emerald, without any clear reason," said Jericho.

"Odd, indeed. And like I said, she didn't ask for any money back at the cantina. Why?" said Derek.

"I dunno, she may be holding back until we got it. But I get the feeling something is going on here. She tries anything, she deals with me." said Jericho.

"Noted," said Derek.

Meanwhile, aboard the Death Star, Darth Vader and Robotnik were speaking with Tarkin.

"Their resistance to the mind probe was considerable. It will be some time before we can extract any information from them," said Vader.

"Their will was even stronger than I thought, Lord Vader. Even that Acorn Princess, even if she is out of her depth, won't break," said Robotnik.

Soon, Motti reported to Tarkin.

"The final checkout is completed, all systems are operational. What course shall we set?" he said.

"Perhaps they will respond to...an alternative form of persuasion," said Tarkin.

"What do you mean?" said Vader.

"I think it is time we demonstrated the full power of this station. Set your course for Alderaan," said Tarkin.

"With pleasure," said Motti.

"At once, sir," said Snively.


	10. Blast

**Chapter 10: Blast**

The Freedom Fighters hustled through the alleyways towards the docking bay. They had rejoined Luke, Ben, and the droids. The entrance to the docking bay was just around the corner.

"If the ship's as fast as his boasting, we ought to do well," said Ben.

They turned the corner and Chewie was waiting for them. He led them inside, but the heroes didn't bother to check behind them, for a hooded figure was tailing them, and hid out of sight so that he could speak into his comlink. Meanwhile, the group headed down the steps, where they came upon the sight of the _Millennium Falcon_.

"What a piece of junk!" said Luke.

"Really? This is the _Millennium Falcon_? This is the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs?! You really expect to fly to Alderaan in that space jalopy?" said Sonic.

"She's not a jalopy, blue boy. She'll make point five past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kids. I've made a lot of 'special modifications' myself. But, we're a little rushed, so if you'll just get on board, we'll get outta here," said Han.

"The way you talk, Han, you'd think you were the fast one, not this ship," said Seraphine.

"Yeah, this is definitely a Corellian design, little worse for the wear, but looks impressive to me," said Rotor.

"I will be okay so long as it iz clean inside...I hope it smells bettair than Sonic's room," said Antoine.

"It's ain't no luxury yacht, Antoine. Just relax," said Bunnie.

"I had to spend three years sleeping on the floor of something similar to this," said Jericho.

"Me too," said Geoffrey.

The Freedom Fighters headed up the boarding ramp, with their Rebel allies not far behind.

"Betcha a thousand credits this thing falls apart on takeoff," said Sonic.

"Betcha it needs me to help fix it," said Tails.

As Han made some last-minute check-ups to prep the ship for takeoff, with Seraphine, Geoffrey, and Jericho doing a final look around for any trouble, a squad of Stormtroopers approached the Docking Bay, and the hooded figure approached them.

"Which way?" said the Commander.

The spy pointed to the docking bay, speaking in his language.

"Alright men, load your weapons," said the Commander.

The Stormtroopers made their way into the docking bay, where they came into view.

"Stop that ship! Blast them!"

Han, Seraphine, Jericho, and Geoffrey each drew blasters and opened fire on the Stormtroopers.

"GO! GO! GO!" said Geoffrey.

The four hustled up the ramp, Han closing the door and the ramp. The three Mobians joined the others in taking seats as Han rushed to the cockpit.

"CHEWIE, GET US OUTTA HERE!" he said.

"Okay, guys! This is it!" said Tails.

"Oh my, I've forgotten how much I hate space travel!" said 3PO.

The _Falcon_ slowly lifted off the ground as the Stormtroopers fired at it, trying to stop it, but to no avail. The _Falcon_ slowly blasted off into space, leaving Tatooine behind.

"Grgh, mmph, ragggh," said Chewie.

Han checked the sensor displays.

"Looks like an Imperial cruiser, our passengers must be hotter than I thought. Try and hold 'em off, angle the deflector shields while I make the calculations for the jump to lightspeed," said Han.

Han and Chewie begun working the controls to the navicomputer, hyperdrive, and shield systems, as two Star Destroyers begun to chase the ship.

"Stay sharp! There's two more coming in! They're gonna try and cut us off!" said Han.

"Why don't you outrun 'em? I thought you said this thing was fast?" said Luke.

"I can get out and run faster than this, you know!" said Sonic.

"Watch your mouths, boys, or you're gonna find yourselves floating home! We'll be safe once we make the jump to hyperspace. Besides, I know a few maneuvers, we'll lose 'em," said Han.

But soon, the Star Destroyers began to shoot at them, and the _Falcon_ rocked as turbolaser shots exploded around them.

"Here's where the fun begins," said Han.

"You mean the part where you're gonna get us killed!" said Tails.

"How long until you can make the jump to lightspeed?" said Ben.

"It'll take a few moments to get the coordinates from the navicomputer," said Han.

"Are you kidding?! At the rate they're gaining?!" said Luke.

"Yeah, come on, Han? Where's that 'faster than the speed of light' stuff this ship has?" said Sonic.

"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops or swoop racing, boys! Without precise calculations we'd fly through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that would end your trip real quck, wouldn't it?!" said Han.

"He's got a point, you know!" said Tails.

"Not helping, Tails!" said Sonic.

But soon, a light begun to flash on the console.

"What's that flashing?" said Luke.

"We're losing the deflector shield. Go strap yourselves in! I'm gonna make the jump to lightspeed!" said Han.

"Rrggh," said Chewie.

As everyone went back to their seats, Han worked a few controls and then pulled the lever, and the _Falcon_ began to jump into Hyperspace in an instant. The Mobians, Luke, Ben, and the droids, were safe...for the moment.

Meanwhile, the Death Star was making it's approach towards Alderaan, getting into a position near it. Tarkin and Robotnik were on the bridge as Darth Vader and Snively brought Princess Leia and Princess Sally to the bridge.

"We've entered the Alderaan system," said Motti.

"Governor Tarkin! I should have expected to find you holding Vader & Robotnik's leashes! Sally and I each recognized your foul stenches when we were brought on board," said Leia.

"Yes, Leia has told me enough about you, 'Governor.' You Imperials really are no better than Robotnik here. You're willing to stomp on anyone who dares make a stand against you, all justified in the name of peace," said Sally.

"Charming, to the last. You don't know how hard I found it, signing the orders to terminate both your lives," said Tarkin.

"I'm surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself," said Leia.

"You claim your hands are clean, but the blood of everyone who's suffered is on your hands, however clean they may look. How can you justify yourself?" said Sally.

"Speaking of justification, Princess Leia, and Princess Sally, before your executions, I would like you both to be our guests at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now," said Tarkin.

"You're only gonna further prove the point of the Rebellion, Tarkin," said Sally.

"She's right. The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers," said Leia.

"Not after we've demonstrated the power of this station," said Tarkin.

"Yes, you see, in a way, your Highnesses, you have determined the choice of the planet that will be destroyed first, partly due to your refusal to cooperate with us on where the rest of your cell is, Sally...," said Robotnik.

"And since you are reluctant, Leia, to provide us with the location of the Rebel base...I have chosen to test this station's destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan," said Tarkin.

The view of Alderaan came into the viewscreen of the bridge.

"What? You're gonna destroy a peaceful planet that has done nothing? Not even taken up arms against the Empire?!" said Sally.

"No! Alderaan is peaceful! We have no weapons! You can't possibly-"

"You would prefer another target, a military target? THEN NAME THE SYSTEM!" said Tarkin.

Tarkin slowly begun to walk towards Leia, staring her down.

"I grow tired of asking this, so it'll be the last time. Where is the Rebel Base?" said Tarkin.

"I would advise telling him, Princess Leia, for your sake as well as the sake of your planet," said Robotnik.

Sally looked at Leia, shaking her head, practically begging her not to do it.

"...Dantooine. They're on Dantooine," said Leia.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it, Princess?" said Robotnik.

"There. You see, Lord Vader? She can be reasonable. Continue with the operation. You may fire when ready," said Tarkin.

Sally and Leia's eyes widened.

"WHAT?!" they said in unison.

"Robotnik was quite right about one thing. You're both far too trusting. Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration but don't worry; we'll deal with your Rebel friends soon enough," said Tarkin.

"NO! Please!" said Sally.

"NO!" said Leia.

Leia and Sally were each grabbed by Vader and held back as they were forced to helplessly watch what came next.

"Commence primary ignition," said one of the Death Star gunners.

The crew begun to charge the superlaser of the Death Star, and all the cannons begun to fire off several green beams, forming one powerful superlaser blast directly at Alderaan, completely obliterating it in an enormous explosion that sent a massive shockwave throughout space.


	11. Days Gone By

**Chapter 11: Days Gone By**

Aboard the _Millennium Falcon_ , the Freedom Fighters were taking a chance to get some rest, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Cream, watched as Luke practiced against a training remote with his lightsaber. Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, and Knuckles watched Chewie playing a game of dejarik against R2. But Ben began to look distressed, and Luke deactivated his lightsaber.

"Are you alright? What's wrong?" he said.

"I've felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror...and was suddenly silenced. I feel something terrible has happened. You'd better...get on with your exercises," said Ben.

Luke slowly walked back to the remote as Han exited the cockpit.

"Well, you can forget your troubles with those Imperial slugs, I told you I'd outrun 'em," Han said.

But as Luke activated his lightsaber again, everyone else didn't seem to pay Han any mind.

"Don't everybody thank me at once. Anyway we should be at Alderaan about 0200 hours," said Han.

But as Han looked around, he saw a female Mobian Lynx sitting next to Sonic.

"Whoa, who are you? What are you doing here? How'd you get aboard my ship? I don't recall seeing you coming aboard."

"Oh...apologies, Captain. My name is NICOLE, personal assistant to Princess Sally Acorn," said NICOLE.

Han raised his eyebrow in confusion. Sonic stood up.

"To tell the truth, Han, NICOLE is not really a person at all. Not an ordinary person, anyway. This is NICOLE right here," he said.

Sonic pointed to NICOLE's handheld unit, and Han and Luke, who'd turned to look, looked rather dumbfounded.

"Wait...that girl...is actually that little calculator?" said Han.

"I think what Sonic is saying is NICOLE isn't just some computer, Han. I think it's a full sentient A.I. unit," said Luke.

"That is correct, Luke," said NICOLE.

"An A.I., eh? Why didn't you tell me about this A.I., blue boy? This...this is a whole other matter, she could be the key to saving some world for all I care," said Han.

"It's not like we advertise it, Han! You would have asked for more money or some drama!" said Sonic.

"I was trying to maintain a low profile, Captain Solo. And Sonic asked me if I'd activate my avatar, I was not trying to cause a disturbance," said NICOLE.

"Well, whatever, just don't spring anymore surprises on me, or I'll ask for more," said Han.

"I have remotely accessed your ship's systems, Captain. Your fuel cells may have to be replaced soon, and your hyperdrive motivator is overworked and may need increased maintenance. Any further damage may result in failure," said NICOLE.

"Hey, I know my ship, fancy calculator. It runs just fine, I don't need any statistics to tell me how to run it," said Han.

"Hey, whatever you call her, Han, NICOLE is an important member of our team. She's come through and saved our tails countless times, we would have ended up in a worse place if not for her!" said Sonic.

"Thank you, Sonic," said NICOLE.

"You're welcome, NICOLE, it was either stick up for you or shake your handheld to be quiet," said Sonic.

"Please do not do that, Sonic, it causes my power cell to fall out of alignment, risking power failure or damage to my servos, and I've barely repaired my microprocessors from the last time you shook my unit," said NICOLE.

"Yeah, Sonic, and who has to maintain her?" said Tails.

"Keeping her maintained isn't easy, you know," said Rotor.

"Sorry," said Sonic.

Sonic and NICOLE sat back down. Meanwhile, R2 was making his move on the dejarik board. He then looked up to Chewie, who made his move, putting his piece in a difficult position.

"Now be careful, R2," said 3PO.

R2 then made his move, moving his piece to intercept and remove Chewie's piece from play.

"RAAAGGGGHH!"

"Whoa, what's the problem?" said Rotor.

"No need to be makin' yourself a sore loser," said Bunnie.

"It iz all part of ze game, oui?" said Antoine.

"Yes, he made a fair move. Screaming about it can't help you," said 3PO.

"Let him have it, it's not wise to upset a Wookiee," said Han.

"But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid," said 3PO.

"That's cause a droid don't pull peoples' arms out of their sockets when they lose, Wookiees are known to do that," said Han.

Antoine and Rotor looked at each other, then at Chewie.

"That's a bit disproportionate, don't you think?" said Rotor.

"Oui..." said Antoine.

"I see your point, sir. I suggest a new strategy, R2. Let the Wookiee win," said 3PO.

"Rrraggghh," said Chewie.

"A shame it's not that easy when it comes to ol' Robuttnik, he's practically holding all the good pieces in play," said Sonic.

"Speaking of...Sonic, I've been wanting to ask you this. You guys keep mentioning this Robotnik, and how you're fighting him back on the planet Mobius. Who is Robotnik and what exactly is going on there?" said Luke.

"You've never heard of Robotnik? Everyone should have heard of him-"

"Amy," said Sonic.

"Oh...that's right, you don't know what's going on on Mobius," said Amy.

"Yeah, you call yourselves 'Freedom Fighters', but you don't sound like you're with the Rebellion," said Luke.

"Except for the Raccoons, St. Jerk, and that other guy, there...no, we've...kinda been out of the loop on things, but it's a long story, and I'm not gonna bore you with all the stuff that won't matter in this story," said Sonic.

"Uh, what was that, Sonic?" said Ben.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I meant, I'll just get to the important stuff," said Sonic.

"Who is Robotnik?" said Luke.

"Dr. Ivo Robotnik, he's the ruler of Mobius, or as we've learned recently, the Imperial Governor, and he's one mad scientist," said Sonic.

"Mad scientist?" said Luke.

"Yeah, he's got an IQ of...uhh...,"

"Three hundred, Sonic," said Tails.

"Thanks, Tails," said Sonic.

"That's high," said Han.

"It is, you'd be amazed at the stuff he builds, it's even more amazing when I smash it to pieces. Yeah!" said Sonic.

"How did he come into power? The way you talk, it mustn't have been peacefully," said Luke.

"No, it wasn't. We don't know exactly what his history is, but what we do know is that he ran with the Separatists during the Clone Wars, until he defected to the Republic about twenty years ago. He went by the name Julian Kintobor at the time. We don't know exactly why he defected, but we heard rumors it may have had something to do with highly unethical robotic experiments," said Rotor.

"So anyway, King Maximillian Acorn, he was the ruler of the Kingdom of Acorn on Mobius at the time, had Robotnik join the war effort and helped begin to help turn the tide against the Separatist factions on Mobius, and by the time the war ended, he'd become the Minister of War in the Acorn Court," said Amy.

"He had a background that shady and the King took him in just like that?" said Luke.

"Our people were a little desperate for any advantage we could take," said Bunnie.

"Before that, he worked at the science ministry as well, but when he helped on the Sapphyrus campaign, that's when the King promoted him," said Rotor.

"Oui, he was gaining ze King's trust, and even aftair ze war ended, he continued to help in ze effort to suppress the remaining holdouts, but he started to be introducing his new droids of security, promising he'd make us safe," said Antoine.

"And that didn't seem the least bit suspicious?" said Ben.

"We were babies at the time, Ben. And we don't know why ol' King Max didn't see it coming, but looking back, it was obvious he was putting all his pieces in place," said Sonic.

"So what happened?" said Luke.

"Well, sugah, ten years ago, Robotnik begun seizin' the city of Mobotropolis in a coup, and as we learned, the Empire helped him get away with it, they arrested the King and instilled Robotnik as the new leader of the planet. Within weeks, our once beautiful city was an industrial wasteland churnin' out enough smog to kill a krayt dragon," said Bunnie.

"Yeah, and now almost every civilization on Mobius is under the rule of Robotnik and his puppet governments," said Amy.

"How'd you all make it out alright?" said Ben.

"What Robotnik didn't know was that the King had built a secret village in the forest outside the city, and we were smuggled out of the city with the help of Princess Sally's nanny, Rosie, and Rosie's cousin Julayla. A few small Royal Guard units came to, but only a small number. The village was off-the-grid, so it was impossible to track. We were safe, for the time being," said Rotor.

"Princess Sally?" said Luke.

"Princess Sally Acorn, King Max's daughter. She's one of us, but...the Empire got her after they attacked our village recently. We don't know where she is now," said Sonic.

"What happened to the King after the coup took place? Is he dead?" said Luke.

"Maybe, I don't know. In general, people think he's dead, but Sal has been clinging to the notion he may be still alive, since Robuttnik never said he was dead, just that he was 'gone,'" said Sonic.

"But we're not sure if Robotnik has him or the Empire does, the trail is as cold as the Northern Tundra," said Rotor.

"But there is still a chance, right?" said Tails.

Everyone nodded.

"How old were you when the coup took place?" said Ben.

"Me, I was five. Sally too. Antoine was eight, Bunnie was seven, Rotor was nine. Tails was only a baby, Cream wasn't born yet, and Amy was only two. Not sure about the rest of these guys over there, but yeah, in general, we were kids at the time," said Sonic.

"Big leap for a bunch of kids," said Han.

Sonic pouted.

"And worse of all, Robotnik can turn people into droids," said Cream.

All the non-Mobians paused and turned towards them.

"Kid, you realize how crazy that sounds? There's no way people can be turned into droids, that's a storybook plot," said Han.

"Cream's not making this up, Han. Robotnik has a very dangerous technology that can do just that. The Roboticizer," said Sonic.

"Roboticizer?" said Luke.

"Yeah. See Bunnie's arm and legs?" said Sonic.

"Wait a minute...are you saying those aren't prosthetics?" said Luke.

"Wish ah could say they are, sugah, but they ain't no prosthetics. They're mah arm and legs, mah real ones," said Bunnie.

Luke coughed, Han gagged, Ben simply sighed in distress.

"Oh my..." said 3PO.

"Tell me that's not some crazy virus that turns people into droids," said Han.

"Relax, Han. Roboticization is only dangerous if you're exposed to the energy from the device. Otherwise, you're in no danger," said Tails.

"That's very reassuring, plush toy," said Han.

Tails pouted.

"Also, how can we be sure that's not some prosthetic? I've seen some advanced stuff in my time," said Han.

Rotor turned to Jericho.

"Hey, Jericho, wake up," he said.

"What?"

"Come over here for a second, I wanna compare your arm to Bunnie's," said Rotor.

"Ugh...fine," said Jericho.

Jericho rubbed his eyes as he got up from his seat, and stood next to Bunnie, and rolled up his sleeve to reveal his prosthetic right arm. Rotor then held up Jericho's arm.

"See this one? It has a lot of bolts and manufactured parts. You can tell because these things look manufactured, and they're made of an assortment of different materials."

Rotor then picked up Bunnie's left arm and held it up.

"A Roboticized limb has fewer bolts and is made of the same metal alloy. They also have a much more organic look to them. It strongly resembles an organic part, only select parts, like the joints, are replaced with droid-like parts. So, in short, prosthetics are manufactured, Roboticized parts are...shall we say, forged," said Rotor.

"I hardly understood any of that, but I think I got it," said Han.

"That's terrible," said Luke.

"It's even worse when you're completely Roboticized," said Amy.

"Yeah, if you're completely Roboticized, you'll lose your free will. You'll become a slave to Robotnik and the Empire," said Tails.

"And then you don't just look like a droid, you become one. That sounds like a fate worse than death," said Luke.

"You are not kidding," said Antoine.

"Is there a way to reverse the process?" said Ben.

"It's one of our goals. But that's proven...fruitless," said Rotor.

"How come?" said Luke.

"Robotnik doesn't keep any plans for the Roboticizer on file, and he's got a lot of security designed around it. In fact, he's the only one who even knows how to build one," said Tails.

"The Empire would have found out by now, plush toy, they always do," said Han.

"He's not wrong, Captain. It's his bargaining chip. It's why the Empire hasn't gotten rid of him for us," said Geoffrey.

"And you know this how, St. Jerk?" said Sonic.

"When the Empire gets what it wants, boy, anyone who got it for 'em is no longer of use to them," said Geoffrey.

"Alright, so what, you guys all just decided to fight at the age of what, five?" said Luke.

"No, not quite. We stayed in Knothole until five years ago, when we officially got started. Of course, Sonic and Tails here were the first to really fight him," said Rotor.

"Yeah! I wasn't gonna sit in some cozy little hut and let ol' Robuttnik hurt more people!" said Sonic.

"You only did it for fun, Sonic. Didn't start becoming about that until you were ten," said Amy.

"Whatever," said Sonic.

"And at the time, Sonic, it was you, Antoine, Rotor, and this Sally?" said Luke.

"Yeah. Tails didn't officially become a Freedom Fighter until recently, Sally wanted to train him more. Bunnie technically came next, before her...incident. Then Amy arrived in Knothole from Mercia-Avalon, after I saved her from Robotnik," said Sonic.

"Yeah, and I just knew that my calls would not go unanswered! That mean Robotnik tried to use me as bait for my dear Sonic, and I was screaming at the top of my lungs, and then-"

"All Sonic did was beat that Metal Sonic in a race, that's all," said Tails.

Amy pouted and glared at Tails.

"Yeah, after Amy begun training with us, we met Cream and Cheese, and they're...well...tag-alongs. She's still got a lot to learn," said Sonic.

"Yes, indeed!" said Cream.

"Chao!" said Cheese.

"Is that all that blue thing ever says?" said Han.

"Yes, Mr. Solo, sir. You see-"

"Cream, not trying to be rude, but save it for later, we got readers who might be getting bored," said Sonic.

"Readers? What readers?" said Han.

"Oh nothing," said Sonic.

"What about Knuckles?" said Luke.

"Oh yeah, Knucklehead here isn't technically one of us, but he helps me out from time to time, for what good that does," said Sonic.

"I resent being called that, Sonic!" said Knuckles.

"Says the guy who actually got fooled by Robotnik more times than I've run around the planet," said Sonic.

"Rrrrggh," said Knuckles.

"Take it easy there, raging red, I'm not gonna risk those spiked fists punching holes in the walls," said Han.

"Rrragggghhh," said Chewie.

"Yeah, about those, Knuckles is no ordinary Echidna, he's the Guardian of Angel Island," said Tails.

"Angel Island?" said Luke.

"Yeah, an Island that floats in the sky, back home, one I hope I get back to someday. Thanks, Sonic, for blowing up that Chemical Plant and getting me to Knothole that day," said Knuckles.

"I'm sorry, Knuckles, but between these guys here not telling us about the Empire and the fact Robuttnik was building Chemical weapons there, it's not technically my fault," said Sonic.

"One of these days, I'm gonna knock you out. Really," said Knuckles.

"Anyway, that's pretty much the basic stuff really. Evil dictator, Roboticizing machine, planet taken over by the Empire through said evil dictator, bunch of kids fighting him, you know, the usual cliched story," said Sonic.

"There's more, but most of them are whole other stories in themselves, and we got to continue this chapter, so let's get back to it," said Jericho.

Everyone looked at Jericho awkwardly.

"What?"

"You just did it too, you're talking funny, what's the deal with you people? It's already weird enough I got a bunch of plush-toy like kids aboard my ship, now you and the blue porcupine here making no sense," said Han.

"I'm a Hedgehog! Hedge-Hog!" said Sonic.

Han simply rolled his eyes and turned away, causing Sonic to frown and pout.

"Anyway...Seraphine, back on Tatooine, y'all were tellin' us about your contact, 'X-File.' You said somethin' that he'd know where a Chaos Emerald is?" said Bunnie.

"I didn't say he specifically told me where it was," said Seraphine.

"How does zis 'File of X' able to be contacting you?" said Antoine.

Seraphine reached into her handbag and pulled out a small handheld device.

"With this," she said.

"What is that?" said Jericho.

"I dunno," said Derek.

Rotor took the device and examined it.

"Looks like a communicator of some sort. But this one doesn't appear to use vocal communication, it's text only. And this thing looks ancient, they don't use this type anymore," he said.

"Well, that's helpful," said Jericho.

"Perfect way to remain anonymous. But even if it does work, how do you know the intel is reliable?" said Knuckles.

"My brother and I first made contact with 'X-File' about three to four years ago, we each received one of those in a package, which was untraceable, by the way. I was hired to go break a known Rebel agent out of jail by the Alliance, he was captured on a mission to steal weapons from the Empire. That thing came with instructions on how to use it, I just typed in what I wanted, a day later, I got intel over the next several hours, SWAT Bot positions, security systems, etc., I was able to break the agent out, though it wasn't a smooth escape," said Seraphine.

"Why was that?" said Tails.

"Because that agent was me. Rescued by mercy-giver here and I wasn't gonna stick around to be part of a possible rip-off," said Jericho.

"Anyway...okay, so what does this have to do with the Chaos Emerald?" said Milena.

"Push that green button, Rotor. It'll display the last received message," said Seraphine.

Rotor pushed the button, and the text displayed.

"'Chaos Emerald. Space Station. Weapon.' That's all it says," said Rotor.

"Like you said, the technology is so old, it can't send much data, that's why it was retired," said Seraphine.

"It's still no help, that could be your brother who sent that, for all we know," said Jericho.

"It's no scam. Like I said, I'm one of several mercenaries who get that intel on a regular basis, and every time I figured it out, he was right every time. But I still don't know who he is, or what position he has within Robotnik's hierarchy," said Seraphine.

"I dunno, still sounds shady to me, this 'X-File', I hope you don't put too much trust in this guy, we don't even know if he's friend or foe," said Sonic.

"I don't trust someone who hides behind something like this, Sonic. But even so, until I know more, I gotta act on it. Believe me, I wouldn't have worked my tail off to come forward if I wasn't sure it was good. And given how good his intel has been, you can trust it, just as you can trust me. The Empire took away my family and my home, I don't owe them any favors," said Seraphine.

"Sob story again," said Jericho.

"We know what it's like to lose our homes, too," said Bunnie.

"Yeah well, it's not any less easy when you have to work to take care of a sixteen year old sister," said Seraphine.

Sonic then turned back to watch Luke practice some more with his lightsaber, but soon, Amy noticed Cream begun to sob a little, and she soon remembered why.

"Cream, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry we lost your mom back at Knothole when the Imperials came. It all happened so fast, I forgot that she was in trouble," Amy said.

"It's...not your fault, Miss Amy. With all the excitement...I just wasn't thinking about her...I just saw her that afternoon, we...we were supposed to pick some flowers..."

"Chao..." said Cheese.

"Don't worry, Cream. I remember catching a glimpse of her back at Knothole, I know she's alive, we'll get her back...somehow," said Amy.

Cream and Amy hugged each other as they turned to watch Luke practice.

"Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him," said Ben.

"You mean it controls your actions?" said Luke.

"Partially. But it also obeys your commands," said Ben.

Suddenly, the remote fired one shot, which Luke was forced to dodge. Han begun to laugh.

"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid," said Han.

Luke deactivated his lightsaber.

"You don't believe in the Force, do you?" he said.

"Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other, I've seen a lotta strange stuff. But I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all powerful Force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. It's all a bunch of simple tricks and nonsense," said Han.

Ben stood up and grabbed a helmet.

"I suggest you try it again, Luke. This time, let go of your conscious self...and act on instinct," he said.

Ben placed the helmet on Luke's head, with the blast shield covering Luke's eyes.

"But, with the blast shield down, I can't even see, how am I supposed to fight?"

"Yeah, don't you need to be able to see in order to fight?" said Tails.

"He's right, you can't fight what you can't see, Ben!" said Sonic.

"Exactly, your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them," said Ben.

Luke activated his lightsaber again, but the remote suddenly fired again, Luke dodged, and sighed in disappointment.

"Stretch out with your feelings," said Ben.

Luke took a deep breath and raised his lightsaber again, moving to where he thought the Remote was, and then suddenly, he moved the lightsaber to block three bolts seconds before they were fired. Everyone was surprised.

"Whoa!" said Tails.

"Did you see that, Miss Amy?" said Cream.

"Yes I did! Way to go, Luke!" said Amy.

"You see? You can do it," said Ben.

Luke took off the helmet and deactivated his lightsaber.

"I call it luck," said Han.

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck," said Ben.

"Look, good against remotes is one thing, good against the living? It's something else," said Han.

"Yo! Ben, you wanna tell me how I can get one of those lightsaber things? If I had one of those things, I'd be mondo unstoppable!" said Sonic.

"It's not so simple, Sonic. You'd have to first understand the nature of their construction. It takes a lot more than just parts to build one, but perhaps when we reach Alderaan, I may be able to elaborate further," said Ben.

"Why is it so hard? Getting materials, I mean. And what do you mean it takes more than parts to build one?" said Knuckles.

"Yeah, what do we need exactly?" said Sonic.

But soon, the console begun to beep.

"Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan," said Han.

Han and Chewie walked to the cockpit, and Luke approached Ben.

"You know; I did feel something. I could almost see the remote," said Luke.

"That's good! You've taken your first step into a larger world," said Ben.

Meanwhile, aboard the Death Star, Tarkin, Vader, and Robotnik were in the conference room when an officer reported to them.

"Yes?" said Tarkin.

"Our scout ships have reached Dantooine. They've found the remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate that it has been deserted for some time. They are now conducting an extensive search of the surrounding systems," said the officer.

As the officer left, Tarkin rose from his seat in fury.

"She lied! She lied to us! And the Acorn Princess likely knew!" he said.

"I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion," said Vader.

"Why didn't we see this coming?! She had the fate of her own planet in her hands, and she still gave us false intel! We should have done what should have been done in the first place!" said Robotnik.

"Who's far too trusting now, you miserable toad..." said Snively.

"What was that, Snively?!" said Robotnik.

"Nothing sir!" said Snively.

"Regardless, we all know what should happen now!" said Robotnik.

"Yes. Terminate them! Immediately!" said Tarkin.


	12. Death Star

**Chapter 12: Death Star**

"Stand by, Chewie, here we go. Cutting to sublight engines," said Han.

He flipped a switch and the _Millennium Falcon_ exited hyperspace, but the ship started to rock violently.

"What the?"

"Rrgh! RRRAGGGHH!" said Chewie.

"Uh, we've come out of hyperspace into a meteor shower, some kind of asteroid collision...it's not on any of the charts!" said Han.

Luke, Ben, and the Freedom Fighters crowded the cockpit as they came to see.

"What's going on?" said Luke.

"Our position's correct, except...no Alderaan," said Han.

"Impossible! It's supposed to be here!" said Jericho.

"He's right, where is it?" said Luke.

"It's what I'm trying to tell you kid, it ain't there, it's been totally blown away," said Han.

"Blown away?!" said Sonic.

"What?! How?" said Luke.

"Destroyed, by the Empire," said Ben.

"The Empire? Destroy an entire planet and reduce it to an asteroid field? That's absurd," said Geoffrey.

"The skunk's right. The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet, it would take a thousand ships with more firepower than I've...There's another ship coming in," said Han.

"Maybe they know what happened!" said Luke.

"It's an Imperial Fighter," said Ben.

Soon, an Imperial TIE Fighter overtook the _Falcon_ and flew away from them.

"It followed us!" said Luke.

"So much for 'outrunning those Imperial slugs,' huh, Han?" said Sonic.

"No, it's a short range fighter," said Ben.

"In other words, no Hyperdrive, people," said Jericho.

"So we weren't followed. What's he doing here anyway?" said Seraphine.

"She's right, there aren't any bases around here, where'd it come from?" said Han.

"Those are fair questions," said Tails.

"It sure is leaving in a big hurry, if they identify us, we're in big trouble!" said Luke.

"Not if I can help it, Chewie, jam its transmissions," said Han.

"It be as well to let it go, it's too far out of range," said Ben.

"Not for long!" said Han.

"Like Seraphine asked, what's this guy doing here? I don't picture Alderaan having any Imperial garrisons, the way you described it," said Knuckles.

"Yeah, Knuckles is right," said Tails.

"Indeed, a fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on it's own," said Ben.

"He must have gotten lost, been part of a convoy or something," said Luke.

"Well, he ain't gonna be around long enough to tell anybody about us," said Han.

"C'mon, hatchling, where's your nest?" said Jericho.

"Best to shoot him now before he has time to get help," said Geoffrey.

"You're speaking my language, skunk," said Han.

"Look at him, he's heading for that small moon!" said Luke.

"Think I can get him before he gets there, he's almost in range," said Han.

"Wait a minute, when did Alderaan have a moon?" said Milena.

"Alderaan doesn't have any moons, does it?" said Derek.

"That's no moon. It's a space station," said Ben.

"It's too big to be a space station," said Han.

"Uh...guys...why does that moon look metallic?" said Tails.

The ominous sight of a large metallic moon became clearer as the ship flew closer.

"Uh, Tails, I think Ben is right, that *is* a Space Station!" said Sonic.

"Oh boy...oh boy...what did we just get ourselves into this time?" said Geoffrey.

"That thing and the remains of Alderaan...can't be a coincidence here..." said Seraphine.

"No kidding," said Dayton.

"Tails, remember Robuttnik's Death Egg weapon?" said Sonic.

"Yeah," said Tails.

"This pales in comparison to that," said Sonic.

"You're right about that," said Knuckles.

"I have a very bad feeling about this," said Luke.

"Turn the ship around," said Ben.

"And quickly, please," said Milena.

"Yeah, I think you're right, full reverse! Chewie lock into auxillary power!" said Han.

The _Falcon_ began to shake violently as it continued to fly closer to the station.

"Oh no! We are doomed!" said Antoine.

"Chewie, lock into auxilary power!" said Han.

"RRRGH! RRRRGGGHH!" said Chewie.

But the _Falcon_ continued to move towards the Death Star, despite Han and Chewie's efforts.

"What's happening?" said Cream.

"Yeah! Why are we still heading towards it?" said Luke.

"We're caught in a tractor beam, it's pulling us in!" said Han.

"Oh great! Just great!" said Rotor.

"WE REALLY ARE DOOMED!" said Antoine.

"SHUT UP, ANT!" said Sonic.

"There's gotta be something you can do!" said Luke.

"Nothing I can do about it, kid, we're at full power, I'm gonna have to shut down. They're not gonna get me without a fight," said Han.

"Uhh, Han, y'all wanna think about what we're up against heah?" said Bunnie.

"I am in agreement, Capitan Solo, how do you blow up a station ze size of ze moon?" said Antoine.

"Ant made a good point for once...how do we blow up...that?" said Tails.

"They're right, you can't win. But there are alternatives to fighting," said Ben.

The station's omnious presence continued to grow bigger as they flew even closer, even making Sonic shake in his shoes.

"It took everything we had to blow up the Death Egg back on Mobius, how are we supposed to fight...that?" said Sonic.

"I don't think we're supposed to, Sonic, at least...not in our current situation," said Amy.

"Anyone got a plan here? Anyone?" said Geoffrey.

Everyone shook their heads as the _Falcon_ flew towards the trench of the station, towards one of the hangars.

 _"Clear bay 327. We're opening the magnetic field,"_ said a Hangar Operator.

The _Falcon_ was guided slowly into the hangar bay and landed inside, as Stormtroopers and SWAT Bots surrounded it. Meanwhile, in the conference room, Tarkin's communicator beeped.

"Yes?"

 _"We've captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system. It's markings match those of a ship that blasted it's way out of Mos Eisley,"_ said an officer.

"They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the Princesses. They may yet be of some use to us," said Vader.

"Or it could be that Hedgehog making a foolish attempt to rescue them," said Robotnik.

Later, Vader and Robotnik made their way to the hangar where the _Falcon_ was docked, as an officer and Snively exited the ship.

"There's no one on board, sir. According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff. It must be a decoy, sir, several of the escape pods have been jettisoned," said the officer.

"Did you find any droids?" said Vader.

"No, sir. If any were aboard, they must also have jettisoned," said Snively.

"Send a scanning crew aboard, I want every part of this ship checked," said Vader.

"Yes, sir," said the officer.

"I sense something...a presence I have not felt since..." said Vader.

Robotnik clenched his fist.

"That hedgehog is here, I know it. I can just taste it!" he said.

Vader and Robotnik then walked out of the hangar.

"Get us a scanning crew in here on the double! We want every part of this ship checked!" said Snively.

Minutes later, two Stormtroopers and two SWAT Bots were doing a sweep of the _Falcon_ , checking every nook and cranny they could find...but found no signs of life. They then regrouped at the boarding ramp.

"There's no one here," said a trooper.

 _"Vessel sweep, clear. Lifeform signs, negative,"_ said a SWAT Bot.

They then proceeded down the boarding ramp back outside. Soon, some of the floor panels begun to rise up as the Rebels and Freedom Fighters begun to discreetly come out of the floor.

"Boy it's lucky you had these compartments," said Luke.

"Standard job requirement," said Seraphine.

"These are for smuggling, I'd never thought I'd be smuggling myself in them. This is ridiculous, even if I could take off, I'd never get past the tractor beam," said Han.

"That is a problem," said Tails.

"How are we gonna shut off that tractor beam?" said Sonic.

"Leave that to me," said Ben.

"Damn fool, I knew that you were gonna say that," said Han.

"Who's the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?" said Ben.

"Rraggh," said Chewie.

Sonic & Tails, along with Jericho & Derek, simply looked at each other.

"That...actually kinda made sense, there. It's a good point, no?" said Derek.

"I guess..." said Jericho.

Outside the ship, the scanning crew arrived with their scanners in a crate. A Stormtrooper approached them.

"The ship's all yours, if the scanners pick up anything, report it immediately." said the trooper.

He then turned to the rest of the squad.

"All right, let's go," he said.

The technicians picked up the crate and carried it aboard the _Falcon_ , up the boarding ramp past two Stormtroopers and four SWAT Bots on guard. They then heard loud banging noises aboard, but didn't react.

"Hey down there! Could you give us a hand with this?"

The troopers and SWAT Bots then walked up the boarding ramp onto the ship. As soon as they were out of sight, blaster shots were heard aboard the _Falcon_.

In the control room above, an officer approached the comm station.

"TK-421, why aren't you at your post? TK-421, do you copy?" said the officer.

The officer then approached the window, and saw the trooper in question come out of the _Falcon_ , and then the trooper pointed to his helmet. The officer acknowledged him with a gesture, and turned to the other officer.

"Take over, we got a bad transmitter. I'll see what I can do," he said.

The officer approached the door and pushed the button to open it, and standing right before him was a Stormtrooper and four SWAT Bots, along with a Wookiee.

Chewie, with a roar, punched the officer hard into some barrels, and when the other officer got up and reached for his blaster, Han and the SWAT Bots gunned him down. They soon walked in, followed by the droids, Ben, and the rest of the Freedom Fighters. Soon, Luke, wearing his stormtrooper disguise, arrived and shut the door behind him. He then removed his helmet.

"You know between his howling and you're blasting everything in sight, it's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here!" said Luke.

"Well, bring 'em on, I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around," said Han.

The SWAT Bots soon removed their heads, revealing Jericho, Dayton, Geoffrey, and Knuckles.

"I forgot how you can barely breathe in these things," said Jericho.

"Forget breathing, I can barely keep my tail away from my legs," said Geoffrey.

"I'm still amazed we can even wear these things and operate them," said Dayton.

"Why do we gotta wear these again?" said Knuckles.

"Cause you guys are taller," said Rotor.

"You're tall," said Dayton.

"I barely fit in those things, I almost couldn't get it off last time!" said Rotor.

"And besides, I work better on my own two feet!" said Sonic.

"And you guys need to pull some weight," said Amy.

Jericho, Knuckles, Geoffrey, and Dayton rolled their eyes and moaned.

"We've found the computer outlet, sir," said 3PO.

"Plug in. You should be able to interpret the entire Imperial Network," said Ben.

NICOLE then appeared.

"I will endeavor to assist, R2. My knowledge of Imperial Operating Systems is limited at this time," said NICOLE.

"Beep blip!" said R2.

R2 then extended his data arm, and accessed the terminal, and begun processing.

"Beep, beep, whistle, click," said R2.

"He says he's found the main controls to the power beam that's holding the ship here. NICOLE will show you it's precise location," said 3PO.

NICOLE then extended her arm and displayed a projection over her hand.

"The tractor beam appears to be connected to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one terminal will allow the ship to leave," said NICOLE.

"Just one?" said Jericho.

"The Empire makes it so complicated yet so easy to mess things up," said Dayton.

Derek was confused.

"Okay, question: How are we supposed to shut them down, much less get to them? I mean, they're gonna realize we're here before-"

"I don't think any of you can help, I must go alone," said Ben.

"Whatever you say, I got more than I bargained for on this trip already," said Han.

"But I wanna go with you," said Luke.

"Be patient, Luke, stay and watch over the droids."

"But he can..."

"They must be delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan. Your destiny lies along a different path from mine," said Ben.

"That's not true, Ben! We can still help! What if you don't make it out there?" said Sonic.

"I'm sorry, Sonic. But it must be done."

Ben then opened the door, and turned to Luke once more.

"The Force will be with you, always."

Ben then headed out of the room down the hallway, and Luke slowly reached for the controls and shut the door.

"Rrrgghhh arrrggghh grghh."

"You said it, Chewie. Where did you dig up that old fossil?" said Han.

"Yeah, what mountain did he climb down from?" said Seraphine.

"Ben is a great man," said Luke.

"Better than you two gold digging leeches," said Jericho.

"Yeah, great at getting us into trouble," said Han.

"Well, I didn't hear you give any ideas!" said Luke.

"Well anything is better than just waiting around, waiting for him to pick us up!" said Han.

"Who do you-"

"Bleep, bleep, whistle!" said R2.

"What is it?" said Luke.

"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir. He says 'I found them!' and keeps repeating 'They're here!'" said 3PO.

"Well, who? Who has he found?" said Luke.

"Princess Leia, and Princess Sally," said 3PO.

"The Princesses? They're here?!" said Luke.

"Sal?! She's here?!" said Sonic.

"Princesses?" said Han.

"Where, where are they?" said Luke.

"C'mon, tell us where they are!" said Sonic.

"Princesses, what's going on?" said Han.

Seraphine was surprised.

"Hold on...Sally was captured? I thought you guys looked a bit-"

"Shh!" said Derek.

"Beep bwoo, bleep bip, click click, Bweep deep deep," said R2.

"Level Five, Detention Block AA-23," said NICOLE.

"What else?" said Sonic.

"Beep bleep blip...dweep deep blip," said R2.

"I'm afraid they're scheduled to be terminated," said 3PO.

"Oh no! We gotta do something!" said Luke.

"You don't say?!" said Sonic.

"What are you two talking about?" said Han.

"The droids belong to one of them, that's the one in the message, we gotta help them!" said Luke.

"And Sally, she's our leader! We told you the Empire got her, we gotta get her back!" said Sonic.

"Hold on there, lover boys, let's not get ahead of ourselves here," said Seraphine.

"Yeah, don't get any funny ideas, the old man wants us to wait right here!" said Han.

"Well he didn't know they were here!" said Luke.

"Yeah, a prison break is a bit of a big leap for me from a simple pro bono intel delivery," said Seraphine.

"Oh boy, here we go," said Jericho.

"Who cares how big a leap it is, Seraphine?! We just need to find a way into that detention block!" said Sonic.

Han defiantly sat himself down in a chair.

"I'm not going anywhere!" said Han.

"And I got family to think about here," said Seraphine.

"They're gonna execute them! Look, a few minutes ago, you said you didn't wanna just wait here to be captured, now all you wanna do is stay?!" said Luke.

"And you, you were willing to help, now you're ducking out?!" said Sonic.

"Marching into the detention area is not what I have in mind!" said Han.

"And a potential suicide mission at best! Unlike you, I got something to lose here!" said Seraphine.

"But they're gonna kill them!" said Luke and Sonic together.

"Better them than me!" said Han.

Han turned away, leaving Luke and Sonic frustrated.

"This is what we're paying seventeen thousand for?! You know what? I don't care what anyone thinks! Sal's in trouble, I'm gonna go get her, with or without any hired help!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, will you calm down?!" said Amy.

"Yeah, come on, get a grip here!" said Tails.

"Don't tell me what I cannot do! I'm tired of waiting for more bad things to happen!" said Sonic.

"Hold on, there, sugah-hog, it's a whole army out theah! And y'all only got one good ring left! We may need that at a moment's notice!" said Bunnie.

"Sal and that other Princess are on death row! And I'm goin', ring or no ring!" said Sonic.

"What's the point if you get yourself killed, Sonic?" said Rotor.

"Zis is what we must put up with, ze man child who-"

"CAN IT, ANTOINE!" said Sonic.

"Oh yeah, well who's gonna come and save you, Sonic the Hedgehog? It's gonna take a lot more than your feet and a ring to save them here! So stop bouncing off the walls and try to actually think!" said Knuckles.

Luke then had an idea, and turned to whisper in Han's ear.

"They're rich."

"Rrrgggh, Arrgghhh, grgghh, arrgh, garrgh," said Chewie.

"Rich?" said Han.

"Rich, powerful. Listen if you'd rescue them, the reward would be..."

"What?"

"Would be what?" said Seraphine.

"Well, more wealth than you can imagine!" said Luke.

"Yeah, imagine saving two princesses! You'll be set for life!" said Sonic.

"Set...for life?" said Seraphine.

"I dunno, I can imagine it quite a bit," said Han.

"Yeah, think about it. Seraphine, if you got a family to take care of, you'll be able to move them into their own house! You won't have to work again! No begging, burrowing, or even working to make ends meet!" said Sonic.

"Maybe..." said Seraphine.

"You'll get it," said Luke.

"I'd better," said Han.

"You will!" said Luke.

"Well, since you two put it that way...and would take a load off my back..." said Seraphine.

"Alright, you two. But you'd better be right about this! What's your plan?" said Han.

"Uhh...3PO, hand me those binders there, will you?" said Luke.

3PO handed Luke a pair of binders, and Luke approached Chewie.

"Okay...now, I'm gonna put these on you-"

But Chewie knocked Luke back.

"RRRAGGGHHH!"

"Okay...Han, you, you put those on," said Luke.

Han smiled as he took the binders from Luke.

"Don't worry, Chewie. I think I know what he has in mind," said Han.

"Okay, that just leaves...at least nine Mobians. How are we gonna get past security?" said Amy.

"We do kinda stand out," said Tails.

Knuckles then noticed a set of chained binders, and smirked.

"I know how we can get past them," he said.

"What do you mean?" said Derek.

Milena turned and saw the binders.

"Oh no...not the prisoner act for us too," she said.

"Sorry, four SWAT Bot armor sets. You gotta play prisoners, luv," said Geoffrey.

"Ah think we should also swap clothin' too, just so we're harder to identify," said Bunnie.

"Yeah, just the easy stuff, jackets, bandoliers, etc., just in case someone spots us on camera, we'll be harder to identify," said Rotor.

Milena turned to Seraphine.

"I'll trade you my jacket for yours," said Milena.

"Sure, no problem. That is a nice jacket, by the way," said Seraphine.

"Sonic, take my jacket. And be careful not to rip open holes with your quills, it's my favorite," said Jericho.

"Don't plan to, since you won't let me live down that this whole mess is my fault," said Sonic.

"It iz your fault," said Antoine.

Sonic pouted. Milena sniffed as she put on Seraphine's jacket.

"It smells like leather polish and oil," Milena said.

"Sorry it's not fine cloth like this jacket," said Seraphine.

Tails gave his goggles to Amy, putting on Rotor's hat in the process, while Rotor swapped his jacket with Derek. Bunnie gave her jacket to Antoine, who gave her his. Bunnie also gave her hat to Cream. By now, Luke and Han could not help but give a snigger at the odd combinations the Freedom Fighters were coming up with.

"Find a good place to hide a weapon under all that," said Jericho.

Sonic carefully stuffed his pistol into the jacket pocket, as did Rotor and Antoine, but Seraphine placed her pistol in the back of her pants under her jacket. Seraphine then took out her flechette launcher, and begun tying a strap to the grips.

"What are you doing?" said Derek.

Seraphine looked at Rotor's jacket on Derek.

"That's perfect. Big enough to hide," said Seraphine.

"Hide? Hide what?"

"Hold your left arm out."

Derek held out his arm, and Seraphine begun strapping the flechette launcher to his arm.

"Whoa there, what are you doing?"

"Smuggling this thing. I don't expect you to use it, just hide it. That jacket is the only one big enough to hide this thing without the barrels sticking out the bottom there. Don't worry, safety is on, you'll be fine," said Seraphine.

"Be careful, Derek, that's my favorite jacket," said Rotor.

"As long as I don't accidentally knock the safety loose and blow my own foot off in the process, I think we'll be fine," said Derek.

"Alright, line up," said Jericho.

The Freedom Fighters lined up as Geoffrey and Knuckles begun attaching the binders to their wrists.

"You sure this'll work?" said Han.

"Relax, Han. We're professionals! We do this all the time!" said Sonic.

"Not all the time, Sonic, usually it's just the few of us," said Amy.

"Just making sure my tail doesn't cause unintended tickling," said Geoffrey.

"I'm right there with you, Geoffrey," said Dayton.

"Uh, Master Luke, sir, pardon for asking, but what should R2, NICOLE, and I do if we're discovered here?" said 3PO.

"Lock the door," said Luke.

"And hope they don't have blasters," said Han.

"Rrgh," said Chewie.

"And that they're in a good mood," said Milena.

"Very funny," said NICOLE.

"Yes, that isn't very reassuring," said 3PO.

"Whistle whistle," said R2.


	13. Breakout

**Chapter 13: Breakout**

The Freedom Fighters kept their heads looking down at the floor as they marched in single file down the hallways of the station. The people they passed took little notice of them, even as a Mouse Droid approached them.

"RRRRAGGGH!" said Chewie.

The mouse droid, frightened by the roar of the Wookiee, turned around and raced away in the opposite direction.

 _"Keep moving, prisoners,"_ said the undercover Jericho.

The group kept moving forward through the hallways, Sonic glimpsed up as he saw Imperial officers and droids walk past them, some even giving him contemptuous glares, some never even making eye contact with him. They soon came to some elevators, and they waited. It wasn't long before one elevator arrived, and they were directed aboard.

 _"I can't see a thing in this helmet,"_ said Luke.

The Freedom Fighters were bunched up as Han prevented anyone else from coming aboard the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, they were on their way up. Jericho, Geoffrey, and Dayton then took a moment to loosen Sonic's, Bunnie's, Seraphine's, Antoine's, and Rotor's cuffs.

 _"When the shootin' starts, those of you still tethered, hit the deck and stay there,"_ said Geoffrey.

"Why aren't we being loosened?" said Amy.

 _"Cause it's gonna be cramped in there, probably, and the last thing we need is too much crowd control,"_ said Jericho.

"We'll be ready," said Sonic.

Meanwhile, Luke was also loosening Chewie's cuffs.

 _"This is not gonna work,"_ said Han.

 _"Why didn't you say so before?"_ said Luke.

 _"I did say so before,"_ said Han.

But soon, the door opened, and the group got out of the elevator, where the officer soon noticed them, and eyed them suspiciously.

"Where are you taking these...things?" he said.

 _"Prisoner transfer, from cell block 1138,"_ said Luke.

The officer rolled his head inquisitively.

"I wasn't notified. I'll have to clear it."

He then gestured the guards to approach the group. But when the first one got close to Chewie, he struck the guard down. Sonic then slipped out of his loosened cuffs, pulling a blaster out from his pocket and shot the first guard standing in front of him.

 _"Look out! They're loose!"_ said Han.

 _"They'll get us all killed!"_ said Luke.

 _"I'll get them!"_ said Han.

 _"Prisoner revolt, engaging!"_ said Geoffrey.

He then turned his SWAT Bot rifle on the Guards and begun shooting them down. Jericho, Dayton, and Knuckles did the same, joining in. Bunnie, Seraphine, Antoine, and Rotor, each pulling out their hidden blasters, begun to shoot up anything in sight. Tails, Amy, Cream, Derek, and Milena dropped to the floor to avoid being hit. The officer reached for a blaster, but was soon shot by Han. Chewie, taking the heavy blaster from Han, started shooting all the security devices in the room, with Luke and Han helping in between shooting the guards. Sonic rolled to the side, dodging shots left and right, taking down a few guards, with the others doing the same. One guard shot Knuckles in the chest, but the SWAT Bot Armor shredded it off, and Knuckles, turning his heavy blaster on the guard, mowed him down. But as the guards were taken out and security devices blasted, one officer came running down the cell bay towards them.

 _"Look out!"_ said Luke.

Han, Jericho, and Dayton quickly took him down with their blasters. Soon, Luke approached the console and pulled the dead officer off, as Han went to the console.

 _"Gotta find out which one of these cells these princesses of yours are in...here it is! 2186 and 2187, you guys go and get 'em, I'll hold 'em here!"_ said Han.

Luke and Sonic begun running down the cell bay, as Jericho, Dayton, Geoffrey, and Knuckles begun to shed the armor. Jericho, handing his rifle to Seraphine, didn't take long to shed it, and he begun freeing up the others from their binders.

"Well, that went well...so far," said Milena.

"So far, yes. Ugh, why do these things need to be so hard to wear? I was actually walking with my tail between my legs!" said Geoffrey.

"Here, take this shotgun, I'll stick with my pistol, thanks," said Derek.

Jericho begun to unstrap the shotgun from Derek's arm.

"Quiet, everyone, quiet!" said Dayton.

Han had taken off his helmet and approached the communications port.

"Uh...everything's under control, situation normal."

 _"What happened?"_

"Uh...had a slight weapons malfunction, but...uh...everything's perfectly alright, we're fine. We're all fine here now. Thank you. How are you?"

 _"We're sending a squad up."_

"Uh...uh, negative, negative! We have a...a reactor leak, uh, now. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Uh, large leak, very dangerous."

 _"Who is this? What's your operating number?"_

Han then grabbed his blaster and shot the communicator.

"Boring conversation anyway...LUKE! SONIC! WE'RE GONNA HAVE COMPANY!"

Sonic and Luke frantically searched the cell bay until they finally came to their target doors. Sonic pushed the button and opened the door, revealing Sally, trying to sleep.

"No...no...stop! Stop, please! They didn't do anything to you..."

"Sal?"

"THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO YOU!"

Sonic was stunned by the sudden outburst, but he began shaking Sally.

"Sal, come on, wake up! It's me! Sonic!"

Sally slowly opened her eyes.

"They didn't...Sonic? No...it can't be...not here..."

Sonic then leaned forward and kissed Sally, surprising her and shaking her out of her awakening state.

"Does that prove I'm real, Sal?" said Sonic.

Sally then begun to smile, and she hugged Sonic, hard.

"Hey, hey, easy! I'm here, Sal! I'm here. You're safe now."

"Everyone else?"

"They're here too, Sal. Let's go, we're bustin' you and Leia outta here! Let's juice!" said Sonic.

He and Sally wasted no time hustling out of the cell to join the others.

"He is here," said Darth Vader.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" said Tarkin.

"What makes you think so?" said Robotnik.

"A tremor in the Force. The last time I felt it was in the presence of my old master," said Vader.

"Surely he must be dead by now," said Tarkin.

"Indeed, after all these years," said Snively.

"Don't underestimate the Force," said Vader.

"The Jedi are extinct; their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion." said Tarkin.

Tarkin heard a beep on his communicator console, and walked over to it.

"Yes?"

 _"We have an emergency alert in Detention Block AA-23."_

"The princesses? Pull all sections on alert!" said Tarkin.

"That hedgehog! I knew it! He's here! He's come to rescue his precious princess!" said Robotnik.

"Obi-Wan is here, the Force is with him," said Vader.

"If you're both right, they must not be allowed to escape," said Tarkin.

"Escape is not his plan. I must face him alone," said Vader.

Vader then turned to leave the room.

"I will find that Hedgehog, and when I do, I will personally see to it that he is roboticized! I will do so, alone!" said Robotnik, who turned to leave.

Back in the Detention Block, the group was waiting for Luke, Leia, Sonic, and Sally, when Chewie heard a noise from behind at least two of the elevator doors.

"RRAGGGH!" he said.

"Heads up! Here they come!" Dayton said.

"Get behind me! Get behind me!" said Han.

Soon, the doors blew open, and Stormtroopers and SWAT Bots begun to file out. The group opened fire, hitting the first ones out the door, but unfortunately, the increasing numbers coming out of the elevators forced them to retreat back to avoid being shot down in a crossfire.

 _"Watch your left. They went down the Cell bay,"_ said one of the Stormtroopers.

The group rejoined Sonic, Sally, Luke, and Leia, and looked back.

"Can't get out that way!" said Han.

"You are zinking?!" said Antoine.

"Looks like you managed to cut off our only escape route," said Leia.

"You didn't hold onto the escape route? What kind of plan is this?" said Sally.

"Hey, I didn't come up with this plan," said Sonic.

"Maybe you'd like it better back in your cells, your highnesses," said Han.

But suddenly, the Stormtroopers and SWAT Bots at the end of the cell bay begun shooting at them.

"Take cover!" said Seraphine.

The group ran to cover and returned fire.

"Great! We escape from one prison only to die in another!" said Milena.

"Shut up!" said Derek.

"Not helping, you know!" said Dayton.

Luke pulled out his comlink.

"C-3PO? C-3PO?!"

 _"Yes, sir?"_

"Are there any other ways out of the cell bay? We've been cut off!"

Amy fired her pistol at the troopers, keeping Cream and Cheese behind her safely.

"What was that? I didn't copy!" said Luke.

"I said, all systems are alerted to your presence, sir. The main entrance seems to be the only way in or out," said 3PO.

"Yes, unfortunately, all other information on your level is restricted," said NICOLE.

She and the droids soon heard banging on the door.

 _"Open up in there! Open up in there!"_

NICOLE covered her mouth in fear.

"Oh no..." said 3PO.

"There isn't any other way out!" said Luke.

"We're trapped! How in hoo-ha are we supposed to get outta heah?" said Bunnie.

"Contrary to popular beliefs, I will not surrendair to these...ugly men with buckets of heads!" said Antoine.

"They're right, we either die or end up right back where we started!" said Geoffrey.

"We can't hold 'em off forever! Now what?!" said Han.

"This is some rescue! Right, Sally?" said Leia.

"Yes! An escape plan isn't an escape plan without an escape route!" said Sally.

"You came in here; didn't you have a plan for getting out?" said Leia.

Han pointed to Luke.

"*He's* the brains, sweetheart!" said Han.

"Well, I didn't-"

Leia then grabbed Luke's blaster and used it to shoot open a nearby grate.

"What the hell are you doing?!" said Han.

"Somebody has to save our skins!" said Leia.

Leia fired a few shots at the troopers and SWAT Bots before turning to the grate. Sally did the same, taking Sonic's weapon from him to do so.

"Into the garbage chute, flyboy!"

Leia then threw the blaster back to Luke and climbed in. Sally then tossed Sonic back his blaster.

"I like her already!" she said as she followed Leia into the chute.

"Oh please tell me they're not serious! I hate garbage chutes!" said Sonic.

"As if your hygiene can't get any worse," said Derek.

Derek and Milena prepared to go in.

"After you, Derek," said Milena.

"No, ladies first!" said Derek.

"I insist-"

"No time for that joke! GO!" said Dayton.

He shoved Milena down the chute as Geoffrey did the same for Derek.

"Bloody kriff it all. GO! HURRY!" said Geoffrey.

As he continued to lay cover fire, Amy and Cream ran to the chute and jumped in. Dayton followed them in.

"GO! GO! KEEP MOVING!" said Jericho.

Bunnie took Antoine's hand and walked to the grate.

"Wait, we do not know what is down-THAIIRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr..."

Antoine's scream grew faint as Chewie approached the grate.

"Get in there!"

"RAGGGH!"

"Get in there, you big furry oaf! I don't care what you smell!" said Han.

Han then kicked Chewie through the grate.

"Get in there! Don't worry about it!" said Han.

Rotor, then Tails, and then Seraphine, and then Jericho each jumped into the grate.

"Wonderful girls! Either I'm gonna kill 'em or I'm beginning to like one of 'em!" said Han.

Geoffrey proceeded to jump into the chute, followed by Knuckles, who barely avoided getting hit.

"Get in there!" said Han.

Sonic spin dashed into the chute, and Luke followed in after him. Han fired a few more shots, before he leapt into the chute.

"YAHOOOOOOoooooooo..."


	14. Garbage Chute

**Chapter 14: Garbage Chute**

"AAAGH!" said Han.

Han had landed on top of some garbage at the bottom of the chute, joining up with the rest of the group. Knuckles and Chewie were banging on the door with all their might.

"The garbage chute was a really wonderful idea! What an incredible smell you've discovered!" Han said.

"RAAGGGH! RGH!" said Chewie.

"Yeah, looks like we've really hit rock bottom," said Milena.

"Milena, will you please shut up?" said Derek.

"Those one-liners aren't helping us here, sis," said Dayton.

"Well, those one-liners aren't opening this stupid door!" said Knuckles.

"Well, it was either down here, or up there and have you guys go all macho action hero on us," said Sally.

"I think you've watched too many holo-vids, Sal," said Sonic.

"Lets get outta here! Get away from there!" said Han.

Han then took aim at the door as soon as Chewie & Knuckles stepped aside.

"No, wait-!" said Luke.

Han fired, and his blaster shot ricocheted, and then it continued to ricochet off the walls of the chute, forcing everyone to duck to avoid being hit. Eventually, the shot stuck a garbage piece and it was over.

"Will you forget it?! I already tried, but it's magnetically sealed!" said Luke.

"Put that thing away or you're gonna get us all killed!" said Leia.

"Yeah, we ain't gettin outta heah by force, we need to use our heads heah!" said Bunnie.

"They're right, your approach is as bad as Sonic's! Just shoot or smash stuff until it works!" said Sally.

"Absolutely your worships, look, I had everything under control until you led us down here! You know, it's not gonna take 'em long to figure out what happened to us!" said Han.

"Very good, Captain. OF COURSE THEY'RE GONNA FIND OUT! Unless we can get out!" said Milena.

"It could be worse," said Leia.

Suddenly, everyone froze at the sound of a growling noise. Tails, Amy, and Cream were especially spooked.

"It's worse," said Han.

"There's something alive in here!" said Luke.

"Yeah, right," said Jericho.

"That's your imagination," said Han.

Sonic then flinched.

"Whoa! What was that?"

Luke, Rotor, and Antoine flinched too.

"Something just moved past my leg!" said Luke.

"Eek! Something slimy touched moi!" said Antoine.

"Luke's right! I felt something, it's-WHOA!" said Rotor.

"Whoa! LOOK!" said Seraphine.

A tentacle briefly appeared through the water, but quickly disappeared back under the water. Luke & Chewie then pointed at it.

"Look! Did you see that?" said Luke.

"What?!" said Han.

"Is it a monster?" said Cream.

"I think it is, Cream!" said Amy.

"Everyone! Be quiet and calm down!" said Sally.

"No way! I'm getting out of here!" said Knuckles.

"This ain't no time to panic!" said Geoffrey.

"This is the perfect time to panic!" said Knuckles.

"They have a-"

"Quiet Milena! Quiet everyone!" said Dayton.

Everyone went silent. An eye peeked out from under the water and looked around, before going back under, undetected. Then suddenly, two tentacles grabbed Luke and Sonic by the legs and pulled them both under the water.

"KID! LUKE!" said Han.

"SONIC!" said Jericho.

"LUKE!" said Leia.

"SONIC!" said Sally.

"SONIC!" said Knuckles.

"LUKE! LUKE!" said Han.

"ARRRGGGHHHHRAGGGGHHHH!" said Chewie.

Knuckles grabbed his heavy blaster and jumped over to help, as he, Jericho, and Han brushed aside some garbage hoping to see Sonic or Luke. But soon, the two of them surfaced, with tentacles wrapped around their necks. Leia then grabbed a pipe.

"LUKE! Luke, Sonic, grab hold of this!" said Leia.

"Blast it, will ya? My gun's jammed!" said Luke.

"WHERE?!" said Han.

"ANYWHERE! JUST GET THIS THING OFF US!" said Sonic.

Han, Jericho, Geoffrey, Seraphine, & Knuckles fired a few shots into the water, trying to help Luke and Sonic up. They then fired again, but suddenly, Luke and Sonic were dragged back under.

"Luke? LUKE!" said Han.

"SONIC, NO!" said Knuckles.

"I can't watch!" said Amy.

"Me neither! Tell me when it's over!" said Tails.

The water grew still again, as silence took over once more. Soon, they heard a metallic clanging noise. Following that, Luke and Sonic popped to the surface, splashing. Han rushed to help Luke up.

"Help them! What happened?!" said Leia.

"Where'd it go?!" said Sally.

"I dunno! It just...let go of us and disappeared!" said Luke.

Sonic was splashing and flailing his arms around violently.

"AAHHHH! WATER! HELP! I'M DROWNING! I CAN'T SWIM! HELP ME! AAAAAHHHHH!"

Jericho and Knuckles rolled their eyes and reached in and lifted Sonic out by his arms.

"Sonic, you forgot that it's knee deep?" said Jericho.

"Wha..?"

Sonic was then lowered back down into the water, able to stand as he did before. His face turned red.

"Uh...heh heh...I guess...we were lucky this time, huh?"

The other Mobians just facepalmed in disbelief. Leia turned to Sally.

"Is he always like this in water?"

"Even in tiny puddles," said Sally.

Leia then facepalmed as well.

"But even so, why did that creature let us go? Did something spook it?" said Sonic.

Then they heard a loud creaking noise.

"I got a bad feeling about this," said Han.

Rotor looked around.

"Yeah...and if this is a garbage chute, it means that..."

Suddenly, the walls started to move, towards each other, to crush whatever was inside.

"The walls are moving!" said Luke.

"Don't just stand there, try and brace it with something!" said Leia.

Milena opened her mouth, but Dayton put his hand on it.

"Don't you dare say anything pertaining to the walls closing in!" he said.

"Less talk! More work!" said Derek.

Chewie, Jericho, Bunnie, and Knuckles began to push against the walls to try and hold them back.

"Help me!" said Leia.

Han grabbed a piece of pipe that Leia was holding and placed it between the two walls, while the other Freedom Fighters tried pushing or using whatever junk they could find. Amy pulled out her hammer and begun slamming the walls.

"Wait a minute!" said Luke.

"C'mon! I'm not gonna die like this!" said Amy.

Luke finally grabbed his comlink.

"3PO? Come in, 3PO!"

 _"3PO?! Where could he be?"_

3PO's comlink was left on a counter in the control room, just as a squad of troopers breached the door to the room. One of them banged his head on the door as he came in.

"Take over. See to him," said the lead trooper.

Then they heard a banging sound from a nearby closet.

"Look! In there!"

The troopers went to the closet, where R2 and 3PO were hiding.

"They're madmen! They're heading for the prison level! If you hurry, you might catch them!" said 3PO.

"Follow me!" said the lead trooper.

The troopers begun filing out of the room.

"You stand guard."

One trooper remained to stand at the door to secure the area. 3PO quickly grabbed his comlink and turned to R2.

"Come on."

R2 extended his third leg and begun to roll out, but before he and 3PO could make it out, the trooper stopped them.

"All this excitement has overrun the circuits of my counterpart here. If you don't mind, I'd like to take him down to maintenence," said 3PO.

"All right," said the trooper.

3PO and R2 then left the room.

Back in the chute, things were getting tighter by the second as the group scrambled to try and hold out as long as they could.

"3PO? Come in, 3PO! 3PO!" said Luke.

Tails ran to help Amy hold back the walls, which were as unstoppable as a train.

"Sonic, we need help here!" he said.

"I'm trying my best here, Tails!" Sonic said.

"It's gonna take a miracle to get us outta here!" said Seraphine.

"A miracle that won't end with me dying with this woman!" said Jericho.

"Hey, you think you got problems?! I'm gonna be stuck here and die with her!" said Derek.

Milena rolled her eyes as she placed another pipe between the walls.

Han tried to help Leia get atop a pile of garbage.

"Get on top!" he said.

"I can't!"

"Where could he be?! 3PO! 3PO, WILL YOU COME IN?!" said Luke.

Inside the _Millenium Falcon_ 's hangar, 3PO and R2 saw the Stormtroopers guarding the ship.

"They aren't here, something must have happened to them. See if they've been captured. Hurry."

"Whistle, Beep, Beep," said R2.

R2 also opened one of his compartments, where he produced NICOLE's handheld, having stored her out of sight. R2 unfolded NICOLE and she reappeared.

"Yes, R2, it was cramped, but no time to ponder, please hurry," she said.

"One thing's for sure, we're all gonna be a lot thinner!" said Han.

"Oh, you think?!" said Jericho.

Rotor moved to help push against the walls with all his strength.

"Get on top of it!" said Han.

"I'M TRYING!" said Leia.

"Bweep blip blip dweep whoop," said R2.

"Thank goodness they haven't found them! Where could they be?" said 3PO.

"Aren't you forgetting something, 3PO?" said NICOLE.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Whistle, beep, blip," said R2.

"'Use the comlink'? Oh my, I forgot. I turned it off."

3PO then spoke into his comlink.

"Are you there, sir?"

 _"3PO?!"_ said Luke.

"We've had some problems..."

 _"WILL YOU SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME?! Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level, will ya? Do you copy? Shut down all the garbage mashers on the detention level! SHUT DOWN ALL THE GARBAGE MASHERS ON THE DETENTION LEVEL!"_

R2 and NICOLE became frantic as they begun working.

"NO! SHUT THEM ALL DOWN! HURRY! Oh no..." said 3PO.

"Whistle, beep!" said R2.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" said NICOLE.

"Beep, blip, whistle!" said R2.

"Almost..." said NICOLE.

The walls were almost fully closed, the heroes pushing with their last ounces of strength, when suddenly, they stopped moving. Everyone opened their eyes and begun to laugh and scream with joy.

"WHAT?! HA HA! ARE YOU THERE, 3PO?!" said Luke.

But to 3PO, R2, and NICOLE, their screams sounded of terror.

"Listen to them, they're dying, R2 and NICOLE! Curse my metal body, I wasn't fast enough! It's all my fault! My poor master..."

NICOLE covered her mouth in horror.

 _"We're all right! You did great! HAHA! Hey, open the pressure maintenence hatch on unit...where are we? 3263827!"_ said Luke.

The droids and the A.I. were suddenly very relieved.

"Oh...thank goodness. I was certain my processors were not fast enough."

"Beep bop beep." said R2.

"Yes, R2. That was close indeed, now let's find that unit and get them out," said NICOLE.

Sonic and Knuckles hi-fived.

"YEAH! WE DID IT! FREEDOM FIGHTERS ONE, GARBAGE MASHER ZERO!" said Sonic.

"YEAH! It'll take more than that to kill this Echidna!" said Knuckles.

Knuckles pounded the wall in triumph as they worked to catch their breath while waiting for the door to open.


	15. Chaos

**Chapter 15: Chaos**

Outside the Garbage Chute, the group was changing clothes again, and cleaning up. Sonic handed Jericho back his jacket. Jericho sniffed and gagged.

"You realize how long it's gonna take to get this cleaned, Sonic?" he said.

"Hey, you got the jacket back, didn't you? People get touchy about every little mess," said Sonic.

The other Mobians were trading clothes back to their respective owners. Seraphine handed Milena back her jacket, and vice versa.

"You have good tastes, Milena. Did this come from Spinner's Row back home?" said Seraphine.

"Yep," said Milena.

Antoine was busy straightening his uniform and his hair.

"Well, zat was an adventure," he said.

"Yeah, and if we can just avoid any more female advice, then we oughta be able to get out of here," said Han.

"Well, let's get moving," said Luke.

"And if Sonic can avoid blowing up any more chemical plants, maybe we can do that," said Jericho.

"Just let me live it down, okay? I said I was sorry," said Sonic.

"No. You don't deserve anything lived down, boy," said Geoffrey.

Suddenly a loud noise was heard from inside the chute, Chewie was spooked and ran down the hallway.

"RRAAAGGH!"

"Where you going? Aw..." said Han.

Han raised his blaster rifle to fire at the chute.

"No wait! They'll hear!" said Leia.

But Han fired one shot into the chute, Leia and Sally rolled their eyes.

"What did I say back there...?" said Sally.

Han then turned to Chewie.

"C'mere, you big coward. Chewie, come here!" said Han.

Chewie shook his head.

"Listen. I don't know who you are, or where you came from. But from now on, you do as either Sally or I tell you, okay?" said Leia.

"Yes, let's not mess this up any further. This is worse than the time Sonic nearly compromised the mission for a stupid Chili Dog," said Sally.

"That was a while ago, Sal!" said Sonic.

"That was last week, Sonic," said Rotor.

"So?" said Sonic.

The group started walking, but Han was annoyed.

"Look, your worshipfullnesses, let's get one thing straight, I take orders from just one person: ME!"

"And look where that got us, Captain," said Sally.

"Sally's right, it's a wonder you're still alive. Will somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way?" said Leia.

Han shrugged.

"No reward is worth this."

But Bunnie and Amy were giggling quietly to themselves.

"Does this sound familiar, Bunnie?"

"Ah'm seein' the similarities already, Amy."

They walked through the corridors until they reached a viewport overlooking the hangar where the _Millennium Falcon_ was docked.

"There she is," said Han.

"C-3PO, do you copy?" said Luke.

 _"Yes, sir."_

"Are you safe?"

 _"For the moment. We're in the main hangar across from the ship."_

"We're right above you, stand by."

"That's what got you here?" said Sally.

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought," said Leia.

"Nice, come on," said Han.

"Stay alert," said Dayton.

They walked through some more corridors, checking the corners, but when they came around one corner, they had an unwelcome sight walking towards them, a squad of Stormtroopers.

"It's them! Blast them!"

Han then shot one of them, sending the others into retreat. Han started chasing them, with Knuckles in tow.

"GET BACK TO THE SHIP!" said Han.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING, COME BACK!" said Luke.

"COME BACK HERE, BUCKETHEADS! TIME FOR A KNUCKLES SANDWICH!" said Knuckles.

Several of the Freedom Fighters, Amy, Bunnie, Antoine, and Rotor, joined by Jericho, Geoffrey, Dayton, Seraphine, Derek, and Milena, followed suit, leaving Sonic, Sally, Tails, and Cream in the company of Luke and Leia.

"He certainly has courage," said Leia.

"That's not courage, that's foolishness!" said Sonic.

"You would know," said Sally.

"At least it's a good diversion," said Tails.

"What good will it do us if they get themselves killed? C'mon!" said Luke.

Luke, Leia, Sonic, Sally, Tails, and Cream begun hustling down the opposite direction. Meanwhile, Han and Knuckles were screaming as they chased the Stormtroopers down the hallway.

"COME BACK HERE! YOU NEED YOUR-"

But suddenly, the two were confronted by not a whole squad, but a whole platoon of Stormtroopers assembled in a hangar bay.

"FORGET IT! I TAKE IT BACK, THEY'RE NOT HUNGRY!" said Knuckles.

The two shot down a few troopers before retreating back to Chewie and the others.

"You guys and your machismo!" said Seraphine.

"That ain't machismo, that's recklessness!" said Geoffrey.

Han fired back they begun to hightail it away from the pursuing troopers. Meanwhile, Luke's group was having no better luck as a squad of troopers was also chasing them down the corridors. Luke led the group through a door, but stopped barely short of falling down into a massive chasm.

"Whoop! I think we took a wrong turn!" said Luke.

The troopers, with SWAT Bot reinforcements, caught up and opened fire on them, but Leia shut the door.

"There's no lock!" she said.

Luke then shot the controls with his blaster.

"That ought to hold 'em for a while," said Luke.

"Now what?" said Sonic.

"We've got to get across!" said Sally.

"Find the controls to extend the bridge!" said Leia.

"Uh...I think I just blasted it," said Luke.

Sally facepalmed.

"You're even more impulsive than Sonic. That's something he'd do too," she said.

"I'm standing right here, Sal!" said Sonic.

"They're coming through!" said Leia.

Luke looked around and then upwards at a structure overhanging them. Sonic then turned to Tails.

"Hey, Tails, Cream, you think you can fly me and Sal across?"

"Maybe, we could-"

But Tails was cut off by the weapons fire of Stormtroopers across the chasm. Luke and Sonic, then Tails, returned fire to hit some of the troopers, one of which fell into the chasm. The remaining troopers took cover. Luke then handed his rifle to Leia.

"Here, hold this," said Luke.

"What's your plan, Luke?" said Sally.

Luke then reached into the utility belt he took from the Stormtrooper armor he wore earlier. He begun extending a grappling hook. The stormtroopers begun firing again, this time, Leia returned fire, with Sonic helping.

"Get ready, you two! We got a limited window to do this!" Sonic said.

"Ready on your go, Sonic!" said Tails.

"I'll be ready, Mr. Sonic!" said Cream.

"Here they come!" said Leia.

The stormtroopers behind them were slowly getting the door open, but it didn't open all the way. After Leia shot down one trooper across the chasm, Luke proceeded to toss his hook onto the structure above and secure it.

"Take my hands, Princess Sally!" said Cream.

Sally grabbed Cream's hands.

"Ready," she said.

Sonic then took Tails' hand.

"Let's do it to it!" said Sonic.

Leia grabbed a hold of Luke, and then kissed his cheek.

"For luck," she said.

Sonic and Tails flew across first, followed by Cream and Sally, then Luke and Leia swung across the chasm, landing safely on the other side. But some of the Stormtroopers behind them went prone and started shooting at them from under the door, but the group quickly ran away. They ran through the corridors until Sonic stopped when he saw something.

"Sonic, what are you doing?!" said Sally.

"Hey, Sal. Come over here and tell me what you see?" he said.

The others joined him as they looked at a large research lab behind a force field, with a glowing green gem inside a sealed chamber. Tails' jaw dropped.

"Whoa...it's...it's..."

"It's what? What is it?" said Luke.

"It's a Chaos Emerald!" said Sally.

"A what?" said Leia.

"A Chaos Emerald," said Sally.

"They're gems of great power, amazing power, actually. If you collect all seven of them...let's just say amazing things can happen!" said Sonic.

"That sounds oddly familiar. Did you get that from somewhere?" said Leia.

"Huh?" said Sonic.

"Never mind, anyway, that gem sounds important enough that we have to get it, and fast," said Leia.

"Fast is my middle name, Leia!" said Sonic.

"I thought your middle name was 'the,'" said Luke.

Sonic pouted.

"Don't make that a running gag, Luke."

Sally sighed.

"If only I had NICOLE with me," said Sally.

"We do have her, Sal. She's with Leia's two droids. Jericho got her safely when we lost Knothole. Hey, Luke?" said Sonic.

Luke nodded and pulled out his comlink.

"3PO? You copy?"

 _"Yes, Master Luke,"_ said 3PO.

"Is NICOLE with you? Put her on," said Luke.

 _"Of course, sir,"_ said 3PO.

"I'll get started on this force field," said Tails.

Tails looked for an access panel and produced his fusion cutter.

 _"I'm here, Luke,"_ said NICOLE.

"Hang on, I got Sally here with me," said Luke.

Luke handed the comlink to Sally.

"NICOLE!" she said.

 _"Sally, glad you are alive and well. What do you need?"_

"Can you patch into lab 12231998? We found a Chaos Emerald, and we need to be able to get it out without getting shot up," said Sally.

 _"I will get started right away, Sally. I have an astromech with me that will make it faster,"_ said NICOLE.

"Good," said Sally.

Tails scanned each wire with his eyes, and then saw one, and saw it was behind a few more.

"Luke, help me here, hold these wires to the side so I can cut that yellow lined one," said Tails.

"You sure?" said Luke.

"Not really, if it's the wrong one, we could trigger a security protocol," said Tails.

"Then how can you be sure it isn't that green circuit?" said Luke.

"Because I'm guessing, really," said Tails.

Luke pulled the wires to the side with his finger, Tails carefully sticking his fusion cutter inside, and then begun to cut, and the wire was severed by the intense heat. The Force field begun to buckle.

"Good work, Tails," said Luke.

"Thanks. Got lucky. Last time I tried this, almost had nerve gas fill my lungs," said Tails.

"Now to get that Chaos Emerald!" said Sonic.

Sonic ran towards the chamber, but Sally noticed something odd about the floor, and she gasped.

"Sonic wait! That could be a-!"

But suddenly, a glass tube enclosed Sonic, and the floor below him begun to rise up.

"Oh no! A Roboticizer!" said Cream.

"HAHAHAHAHA! If it isn't Sonic?" said a voice.

Soon, several SWAT Bots deployed from chambers within the walls, surrounding the heroes. And on a screen, there was Dr. Robotnik, gloating in his capture of Sonic.

"Look, it's the giant talking egg himself!" said Sonic.

"Silence!"

"Moff Robotnik," said Leia.

"Yes, it is I, Dr. Robotnik! The greatest scientific genius in the Galaxy!"

"Whatever you say, Eggman," said Sonic.

"ENOUGH! You fell for my little hedgehog trap hook, line, and stinker, Hedgehog. Even now, when you come back to Mobius, all...Roboticized, you'll get to join the rest of your little bands of Freedom Fighters. Even now, my dear Imperial friends are hunting them down in every hole they hide in and burning them out of it, making great subjects for my Roboticizers...or my new toy," said Robotnik.

Sonic clenched his fist.

"You won't get away with this, Robuttnik!" said Sonic.

Sally then noticed two blue rings on a nearby table, and she smirked, slowly sidestepping towards the table.

"I already have, now that I have the full power of the Empire at my back, Sonic! And with this great battle station at our command, nothing will dare oppose the Emperor now, much less me. You saw what we did to Alderaan, Sonic. You know it's hopeless now. And you'll get to watch it...from your own backseat."

Sally paused for a moment when Robotnik looked in her direction.

Tails gasped.

"The roboticizer is powering up!"

"Somebody do something!" said Sonic.

"Watch in agony, scream for mercy that will never come, rodents!" said Robotnik.

Sally, leaping towards the table, grabbed a hold of the rings, and placed them on her wrists, making sure they were safely secured. Tails tried to run for the control panel, but was stopped by the end of a SWAT Bot rifle. Sally looked to Cream and Cheese, and she tilted her head sideways, and Cream nodded. Luke tightened his grip on his blaster. Then suddenly, Sally flicked both wrists, causing two large blue energy blades to appear from them. Cream then tossed Cheese at the nearest SWAT Bot, and Cheese slammed into its head, hard, knocking it down. Luke then ran up and shot it several times in the face, dodging blaster fire from the others. Tails then used his fusion cutter to sever one SWAT Bot's arm and disarm it of its weapon, dodging the wrist blaster in its other hand. He grabbed the rifle, with the arm still attached, and pressing the finger against the trigger, shot down the SWAT Bot. Meanwhile, Sally took advantage of the chaos, and then leapt up, as the Roboticizer was almost to full power, and she begun swiping at the cables above. The power begun to falter as she did this, and the roboticizer begun to explode and short circuit, and then she leapt down, slashing a SWAT Bot in half. Luke and Tails then used their rifles to smash the glass, freeing Sonic, who then did a Spin dash to retrieve the Emerald. Robotnik gasped in horror.

"NO!"

"You lose, Robuttnik! We got the Emerald! And I'm not a droid this time!" said Sonic.

"A minor setback, Hedgehog. Too bad it's too late to save your friends, maybe I'll send them to you...when they're roboticized...with the purpose of killing you!HAHAHAHAHAHA!" said Robotnik.

Sonic snarled and then begun smashing the screen with his foot, until it was broken.

"Can't wait to crack that Eggman's shell wide open," said Sonic.

Sonic placed the Emerald in his backpack, then felt Sally slap him across the face.

"You jumped the gun yet again, Sonic! Do you ever learn patience?"

"Hey, Sal, patients are for hospitals! Besides, we got the Chaos Emerald, right? Don't be so touchy about it!"

"That bit of drama could have been avoided if we'd done it my way for once, Sonic," said Sally.

"But we got the Emerald, nonetheless. Now come, we have no time to waste," said Leia.

"Right," said Sally.

"What were those things, anyway?" said Luke.

"My ring blades. Friend of my family built them for me not too long ago. They're basically energy vibroblades, they can cut through most soft material easily. They're pretty good when a blaster isn't gonna cut it," said Sally.

"Those sound like miniaturized Lightsabers," said Luke.

"Well, no. They're not as powerful as those...wait, what do you mean, Lightsaber?" said Sally.

"We'll explain that later, Sal. We gotta get moving!" said Sonic.

"Yeah!" said Tails.

Meanwhile, Han's group was having no better luck, running from a squad of Stormtroopers.

"CLOSE THE BLAST DOORS!" said a trooper.

The group ran towards a closing blast door, but they all got through before it shut, Han just barely getting through.

"Open the blast doors! Open the blast doors!" said another trooper.

Han's group had just turned a corner when suddenly, they had a much more ominous sight.

"Freeze, intruders!" said a SWAT Bot.

"Great, more of these battle droid wannabes," said Han.

Amy angrily raised her hammer.

"Hey, pinkie, you're gonna need more than a hammer to-"

But Han was cut off when Amy suddenly smashed a SWAT Bot hard in the head, her hammer doing so with the strength of a pneumatic crusher. When it was over, the SWAT Bot collapsed to the floor.

"Don't mess with me, metal heads! HIIII-YA!" said Amy.

Amy continued smashing, but Knuckles soon joined in, followed by Bunnie, Rotor, and Antoine. Dayton, Geoffrey, Jericho, and Seraphine soon joined in, with Derek and Milena hanging back. Bunnie grabbed one SWAT Bot's rifle, tearing it out of the SWAT Bot's grasp, before smashing a large gaping hole in it with her bionic fist. Rotor knocked the blaster out of another's hand, before smashing it in the face, disabling it's vision. He then tore open its chest and ripped out some wiring, disabling the SWAT Bot and rendering it useless. Antoine, using his vibroblade, begun cutting two SWAT Bot's arms off, leaving them unable to use their weapons, before cutting them down their chests, causing them to fall apart. Knuckles simply smashed with his fists, the SWAT Bot Armor barely enough to withstand the power in his spiked fists. Jericho used his own prosthetic arm to break the SWAT Bot hands and grab a hold of their rifles, shooting another and then killing the rifle's user. Geoffrey simply leapt off the SWAT Bots, blasting away with his blaster in his left hand, and using his wrist crossbow in his right. Dayton used his wrist blades to slash up the SWAT Bots the same way Antoine did, while Seraphine alternated between her blaster and shotgun to take out the SWAT Bots. Soon, the entire squad of SWAT Bots was nothing more than scrap. Han was left in a state of surprise. Amy propped herself against her hammer.

"You were saying, Captain Solo?" she said.

But suddenly, Rotor turned around and gasped.

"SWAT-H! GET DOWN!"

"A what?" said Han.

"A heavy one, armed to the teeth!" said Jericho.

"In other words, a big guy with a big gun! TAKE COVER!" said Geoffrey.

Sure enough, a much larger looking SWAT Bot, armed with a heavy blaster, came in and opened fire on them, the group ducking to avoid being hit. They fired back.

"That armor is tough! Don't let up!" said Rotor.

The blaster shots barely made much of a scratch on the armor, but then, Chewie roared. He then charged the SWAT-H, which tried to train its weapon on him, but Chewie then grabbed both its arms, and with a slight strain, yanked both the droid's arms out of their sockets, causing the weapon to fall to the floor, and then, Chewie heaved it over his head and then smashed it against the floor, severely damaging it. Jericho then ran up to administer coup de grace. The Freedom Fighters were surprised.

"Well, lucky for us we had a Wookiee," said Rotor.

"I am hating to be ze unlucky fuel who has to endure zat loss," said Antoine.

"Alright, we gotta move on! The hangar can't be far now!" said Han.

"What he said!" said Milena.

The group continued onward.


	16. Escape

**Chapter 16: Escape**

Han and his group approached the entrance to the hangar where the _Millennium Falcon_ was docked. They examined the Squad of Stormtroopers guarding the ship.

"Didn't we just leave this party?" said Han.

"Home stretch," said Seraphine.

"We're gonna need to get past them before we're outta 'ere," said Geoffrey.

"I could try and get 'em-"

Derek was interrupted by the arrival of Luke's group,

"What kept you?" said Han.

"We, uh, ran into some old friends," said Leia.

"Ship all right?" said Luke.

"Seems okay, if we can get to it. I just hope the old man got the tractor beam outta commission," said Han.

But then, one of the Stormtroopers gestured to the others and they began marching away towards the opposite end of the hangar.

"Look!" said Luke.

"Huh?" said Antoine.

"Where are they going?" said Dayton.

"I don't get it either," said Sonic.

"Now's our chance, go!" said Han.

Meanwhile, R2, 3PO, and NICOLE saw the opportunity as well.

"Come along, R2 and NICOLE, we're going," said 3PO.

"After you," said NICOLE.

"Bleep whoo," said R2.

They headed out to join the others who were headed to board the ship, but then, Luke noticed something on the opposite side of the hangar.

"Ben?" said Luke.

"Wait, is he-?" said Sonic.

And sure enough, there was Ben, in a lightsaber duel against Darth Vader himself, in the doorway at the far edge of the hangar. Ben turned to look towards a horrified Luke. Ben then looked towards Vader and smirked, before raising his lightsaber into what looked like a meditative stance. Then Vader swung his lightsaber and struck down Ben, leaving nothing but a robe and his lightsaber.

"NO!" said Luke.

"BEN!" said Sonic.

Their screams caused the Stormtroopers to turn around and shoot at them. The group returned fire as they hustled aboard the _Falcon_. Sally froze in place again when she saw Vader examining Ben's robes, but Milena and NICOLE grabbed Sally and hustled her aboard.

"C'mon, let's go!" said Milena.

"Come on!" said Han.

"Luke, come on! COME ON! Luke, it's too late!" said Leia.

"Blast the door, kid!" said Han.

Luke fired and shot the door controls, causing the door to shut on Vader, keeping him at bay. Soon, Han, Leia, and the remaining Freedom Fighters, including Sonic, rushed aboard the _Falcon_ , but Luke shot a few more troopers.

" _Run, Luke, run!"_

Luke, hearing Ben's voice in his head, quickly complied and hurried aboard. Meanwhile, Han and Chewie got into the cockpit and started the ship up for takeoff.

"I hope that old man got the tractor beam out of commission, or this is gonna be a real short trip. Okay, hit it!" said Han.

"Rgh, rgh," said Chewie.

The _Millennium Falcon_ slowly backed out of the hangar before blasting off away from the station. But aboard the ship, Luke was sitting at the dejarik table, looking depressed. The Freedom Fighters felt great sorrow at Ben's sudden death. They watched as Leia placed a robe on Luke's back, trying to comfort him. Meanwhile, in the cockpit, Han noticed something on the sensors.

"We're coming up on their sentry ships! Hold 'em off, angle the deflector shields while I charge up the main guns!" said Han.

As Han got up out of the cockpit, Chewie prepared the _Falcon_ for action, doing what Han told him to. Meanwhile, Luke sighed.

"I can't believe he's gone," he said.

"There wasn't anything you could have done," said Leia.

"But still…that Vader…I'm starting to hate him even more!" said Sonic.

But Han arrived out of the cockpit.

"C'mon, buddy, we're not out of this yet," he said.

Han then begun climbing into the _Falcon_ 's upper turret, as Luke followed him and climbed down into the lower turret, while Leia headed into the cockpit.

"Oh, this is gonna be good," said Jericho.

"Why, what's going on?" said Amy.

"They're sending fighters to try and stop us," said Derek.

"But why?" said Amy.

"Is it obvious? Just what Derek said! I hope Solo and Skywalker are good shots," said Geoffrey.

"Hang tight, folks. Gets bumpy from here," said Dayton.

Meanwhile, Luke and Han got their turrets up and running. Han put on his headset.

"You in, kid? Okay, stay sharp," he said.

Soon, the ship begun to rumble and shake.

"Get ready to brace…" said Milena.

"Here they come!" said Leia.

Sure enough, four TIE Fighters flew past the _Falcon_ and opened fire on them. Luke and Han returned fire, but were unable to score a hit. The lights flickered as the TIEs flew overhead.

"They're coming in too fast!" said Luke.

Suddenly, the TIEs made another strafing run on the _Falcon_ , causing an explosion that knocked 3PO over.

"We've lost the lateral controls!" said Leia.

"Don't worry, she'll hold together! Hear me, baby? Hold together," said Han.

Meanwhile, some electrical fires begun to ignite in the ship, and while R2 used his fire extinguisher to put one out, the Freedom Fighters rushed to get the rest out too.

"Don't let this thing burn! It's the only thing keeping us alive here!" said Sally.

"You think, Sal?!" said Sonic.

Sonic rushed towards one fire, using a gust of wind generated by his Super Figure Eight peel out to put out some of the flames, while Tails used his tails to blow some of them out. Meanwhile, Han and Luke continued firing at the TIEs, until Han managed to shoot one of them down.

"HAHA!" he said.

Meanwhile, Luke managed to shoot down one of them as well.

"Got him! I got him!" said Luke.

"Great kid, don't get cocky!" said Han.

"There's still two more of them out there!" said Leia.

Han and Luke continued firing at the TIEs, Luke managed to shoot down one of them, and the last one flew over the ship, and Han was able to get a shot to destroy it. It was now over. Han sighed in relief.

"That's it! We did it!" said Luke.

"We did it!" said Leia.

Leia and Chewie hugged.

"Alright! Way past cool, Han and Luke! Great shooting!" said Sonic.

"Not bad! Couldn't have done better myself, gentlemen," said Jericho.

But 3PO was trapped under some cables.

"Help! I think I'm melting! This is all your fault!" said 3PO.

"Whistle? Bleep blip boop boop!" said R2.

The _Falcon_ continued to fly away.

But back on the Death Star, Darth Vader approached Tarkin.

"Are they away?" said Tarkin.

"They have just made the jump into hyperspace," said Vader.

"You're sure the homing beacon is secure aboard their ship?" said Tarkin.

"Oh, yes, sir, indeed! By the time they find it, it will be too late! Either way, this is brilliant!" said Robotnik.

"Very much indeed, sir!" said Snively.

I'm taking an awful risk, Vader, Robotnik, and Snively. This had better work," said Tarkin.

Aboard the _Falcon_ , the Freedom Fighters sat down to relax a bit.

"Boy, this has been an exciting couple of days," said Jericho.

"You're telling me, brother," said Milena.

"First thing I'm gonna do is make me a good pizza and scarf it down," said Derek.

"Oooh! That reminds me! I need another chili dog!" said Sonic.

"At least we got away from that giant metal moon!" said Tails.

"Oui, after what it did to Alderaan…" said Antoine.

"Ah agree, Ant, but at least we're safe for now," said Bunnie.

"I'm just glad you're all okay. I saw it…it was… it was…," said Sally.

Sally's hands begun to shake, Sonic could feel it.

"It's okay, Sal. We're not gonna let the Empire get away with this," said Sonic.

"You weren't there when it happened Sonic. I heard…I heard screams…all those screams…all those children…going as silent as a moonlit night in winter…" said Sally.

"And we'll avenge them, Sal. If we're lucky, we'll get ol' Buttnik with it!" said Sonic.

"You're right, Sonic. At least R2 survived this ordeal, that's what's important right now," said Sally.

"Okay, stop right there. What is so important about that little beeping trash can? What?" said Knuckles.

"He's carrying the technical schematics of that battle station. Leia told me after we got out of the trash compactor, she says she hid them in R2 when she was captured. She thinks if we analyze those, we can find a way to destroy that station," said Sally.

Tails and Amy were in awe.

"Whoa, R2 is…"

"…a courier! I can't believe this, Sally!"

"I know, all the more important the Rebels need to get this," said Sally.

"Indeed," said Rotor.

Sally then turned to Jericho and Geoffrey.

"You two better come clean here. Why didn't you warn us about the Empire when we first made contact?" said Sally.

"We wanted to. Really," said Jericho.

"But the truth was, we were ordered not to. By our bosses, and by your late mentor and your nanny," said Geoffrey.

"Rosie and Julayla too?! Why?" said Sally.

"They knew you'd be in over your heads if you tried, and they knew something terrible would happen if they came back. And besides, Robotnik was more vulnerable with them not on the planet in full force, so there was that. Stupid idea from the get-go, if you ask me, but I was just following orders," said Jericho.

"It was; I can't believe anyone in your organization thought of that!" said Sally.

"Scheme here was to wait until you were powerful enough and organized enough. We were gonna tell you soon, and then this Death Star matter came up," said Jericho.

"You knew about that station too?" said Sally.

"Sorta. We may have been involved somewhat in helping get those plans in the first place, but that's a whole other movie in itself," said Jericho.

"What? You just sounded funny like Sonic does sometimes," said Sally.

"Sorry. Anyway, stupid idea, was a good idea at the time, because we didn't trust you," said Jericho.

"Well, it's a little too late for that, Jericho," said Sonic.

"We didn't expect Vader to respond that quick to this, and I thought we had a good plan in place, but we didn't. But that doesn't matter. We're safe, and I at least got you guys, and that's more than enough. Geoffrey and I will vouch for you," said Jericho.

"Brings me to my next question. Geoffrey, you said your organization was called the 'Rebel Underground,' but I'm gonna guess that's not true. How long have you been with the Rebellion?" said Sally.

Geoffrey lowered his head.

"Going on five years now, your majesty," said Geoffrey.

"And lemme guess, you were following orders too," said Sally.

"That, and because it would have been a little over your head, because we didn't know you didn't know about the Empire's role in the coup," said Geoffrey.

"If you two had been up front, or at least trusted us to keep things under control, we wouldn't be in this mess!" said Sally.

"And now the Empire has ruined everything!" said Tails.

"You think? So, when we deal with that Death Star, how soon can we get Mobius liberated?" said Sonic.

"Sonic, it's not that simple. We're stretched thin as it is. Robotnik has an army twice the size of his normal one protecting him. Getting to him would be like taking on a capital ship with nothing but a stun blaster," said Derek.

"We can't worry about it right now, anyway," said Jericho.

"He's right, there's a lot more at stake now, so let's focus on the bigger threat here," said Seraphine.

"Oh, speaking of stakes, I almost forgot. Someone's intel turned out to be right. I found this on the station," said Sonic.

Knuckles gasped when Sonic pulled out the Chaos Emerald from his backpack, as did everyone else.

"A Chaos Emerald?! Where'd you find it?"

"A lab back on that station!" said Sonic.

Jericho, Milena, Dayton, Geoffrey, and Derek's jaws dropped, as Seraphine beamed with delight.

"You see?! I told you the Empire had a Chaos Emerald! But of all things, aboard that battle station?! 'X-File' told me it was aboard a station, but I never imagined it would be on that particular one!" said Seraphine.

"Stranger things have happened," said Sonic.

"No…" said Milena.

"Way…" said Dayton.

Derek was speechless, Jericho turned to glare at Seraphine.

"How did you know? Who's your source's real name?"

"What? I swear! I told you before, I don't know!"

"This is way too big a coincidence and way too much dumb luck, mercy-giver! We can't have coincidentally found that when we got captured by that exact same station!" said Jericho.

"I just told you, the intel said it was aboard a station, it wasn't any more specific than that! I didn't know it was on that station of all other ones in this galaxy! You're just mad because I was right, again!" said Seraphine.

"Both of you stop!" said Sally.

Seraphine and Jericho turned to look at Sally.

"I don't care who was right and who was wrong here. You, ma'am, I don't know who you are or what's going on here, but I'm not gonna let this drag," said Sally.

"She's right. Seraphine was right, and as big a coincidence as it was, with a bit of dumb luck, she was still right. So come on, shake hands and move on!" said Sonic.

Jericho and Seraphine looked at each other, and Seraphine held her hand out. Jericho slowly held his out and shook her hand.

"This changes nothing, mercy giver. I still think that intel is bogus," said Jericho.

"I think I just found a regular contract, hard-nose, so suck it up," said Seraphine.

The two of them then turned away and sat down, Jericho was pouting when Leia came out of the cockpit.

"Hello, Ms. Leia! May I ask where we're going?" said Cream.

"We're headed to the Yavin system, more specifically, the fourth moon of Yavin," said Leia.

"Yavin IV, that's our main base," said Jericho.

"Yavin IV?" said Tails.

"Jungle planet, located in the Outer Rim, one of the few places the Empire doesn't think twice about looking," said Dayton.

"Not for long. The Empire is tracking us," said Leia.

"Say what?" said Sonic.

"The Empire just let us go. It's the only reason our escape was so smooth," said Leia.

"They just tried to kill us back there!" said Knuckles.

"It's what I'd do. Make it convincing," said Jericho.

"Either way, we ain't got much time before that thing bears down on us," said Geoffrey.

Leia then looked up at Jericho and Geoffrey.

"I'm gonna be correct in guessing you two are from the Mobius cell," she said.

"Yes, ma'am. Commanders Jericho Raccoon and Geoffrey St. John, we're the senior field operatives," said Jericho.

Leia then took a moment to examine the Freedom Fighters properly and then turned back to Jericho and Geoffrey.

"They're all we got for now, your highness. And believe me, it's more than enough. We'll give you the details in our report," said Geoffrey.

"Good. We're gonna need all the help we can get right now, even if it is a few teenagers," said Leia.

"Watch it, lady! You're not much older than me!" said Sonic.

"Yet obviously more mature and level-headed than you," said Leia.

Sonic pouted as Sally laughed.

"Very nice, very nice; couldn't have said it better myself," said Sally.

"And you wonder why this idiot is able to be so popular to the people back home," said Geoffrey.

"Jericho, Geoffrey, that brings me to my next subject, you two have time to answer some questions?" said Sally.

"Ask away. We'll try to answer best we can," said Jericho.

"How long have you been with the Rebellion, Jericho?" said Sally.

"Same as Geoffrey here, five years, exact," said Jericho.

"How come you never came forward earlier; besides the stupid idea your bosses came up with?" said Sally.

"For one thing, we never maintained a full-time presence on Mobius for the first few years of operations. We were operatin' out of the colony world of Sapphyrus, because it gave us somewhere Robotnik had no presence, it's right on the edge of the Outer Rim and surrounded by Nebulae, very hard to access unless you know how," said Geoffrey.

"We'll take you there after we've dealt with…you know what," said Jericho.

"Geoffrey, when we met, is that when we got on the Rebellion's radar?" said Sally.

"Yes, after I made sure you were really you, I reported back, of course, it took a lotta convincing to prove you were speaking the truth, since until then, we thought all the Acorn family members were all dead. Though we had heard rumors of Sonic beforehand, and the time he lit up the Silvanus river, blowing up one of Robotnik's factories in town," said Geoffrey.

"Hey, that was just a freak accident! Besides, I didn't think rivers lit up on fire like that," said Sonic.

"That was a factor in convincing us to set up shop back home, and hopefully find some local resistance to join our cause, and hopefully remove Robotnik from power before the Empire had a chance to solidify their position. But…you know how that turned out," said Jericho.

"It doesn't matter now, we can still make this work, but like you said, first, we deal with that battle station, and then we'll worry about other things," said Sally.

"I just can't believe Robotnik would work with people who built such a terrible weapon like that, how can he justify himself and what that thing is capable of?" said Amy.

"Robotnik is just a man. He wants you to think he's something more, but in the end, he is what he is, just a man," said Jericho.

"Then that should mean it shouldn't be this hard to take him down," said Sonic.

"By the way, Sally-girl, why did Darth Vader take you prisoner? Did ya evah find out why?" said Bunnie.

Sally shook her head.

"No. Vader never once told me why I was there. But, every time he was in the room, I got the feeling there was more going on than he let on. I think he wanted something, but never said it out loud," said Sally.

"Weird," said Sonic.

Eventually, the _Millennium Falcon_ begun its approach to Yavin IV, passing by the Yavin gas giant. The ship entered Yavin IV's atmosphere and flew towards the Rebel base, landing outside a massive old temple. Sonic crossed his arms at the sight.

"An old temple? That's the best you guys can come up with?" said Sonic.

"One thing you learn quickly about the Alliance, Sonic; When you gotta hide…" said Jericho.

"…Hide in plain sight," said Dayton.

"Good point," said Sonic.

Inside the base, they rode some people movers through the base, past the many Starfighters parked inside. Tails and Rotor especially geeked out.

"Wow! This is awesome! Look at all this stuff!" said Tails.

"Think of the damage we could have done back home with these!" said Rotor.

"At least we're equipped, even if it isn't state of the art stuff. And that's good enough," said Milena.

"Yeah! Can't wait to get behind the controls of one of these!" said Sonic.

Soon, the people movers came to a stop, and they disembarked. Leia soon went over to Rebel Commander Willard.

"You're safe! When we heard about Alderaan, we feared the worst," he said.

"There's no time for our sorrows, Commander. You must use the information in this R2 unit to help plan the attack. It's our only hope," said Leia.

"Rotor, Tails, NICOLE, go help. Anything to help do this quickly, time isn't on our side," said Sally.

"You got it, Aunt Sally!" said Tails.

"We're on it!" said Rotor.

Later, R2 was plugged into a computer by some Rebel technicians. The plans for the Death Star soon appeared on a computer screen, and Tails and Rotor, with NICOLE and the Rebel technicians, begun to examine them closely.

Meanwhile, the Death Star was beginning to make its approach towards Yavin IV. Tarkin approached his communicator.

"Yes?"

" _We're approaching the Planet Yavin. The Rebel Base is on the moon on the far side, we're preparing to orbit the planet,"_ said an officer.


	17. Plan

**Chapter 17: Plan**

Back at the Rebel Base, all the pilots, joined by Luke, Han, Chewie, and the Freedom Fighters, all sat down in the briefing room as Rebel General Jan Dodonna prepared to give the briefing on the plan.

"The battle station is heavily shielded, and carries a firepower greater than half the Starfleet. Its defenses are designed around a direct, large-scale assault. A small, one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defense," he said.

"Pardon me for asking, sir, but what good are stunt fighters gonna be against that?" said one of the pilots.

"Well, the Empire doesn't consider a small, one-man fighter to be any threat. Or they'd have a tighter defense. An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station. The approach will not be easy. You're required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction that should destroy the station. Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction. The shaft is ray shielded, so you'll have to use Proton Torpedoes…"

"That's impossible, even for a computer!" said Wedge Antilles.

"It's not impossible, I used to bulls-eye womp rats in my T-16 back home, they're not much bigger than two meters," said Luke.

"…Then man your ships, and May the Force be with you," said the General.

The Freedom Fighters were looking at the screen, which was highlighting the exhaust port on the Death Star, and were visibly surprised.

"Really? We're supposed to fly through the trench and hit…that?" said Dayton.

"It looks do-able," said Tails.

"That's it? One tiny Exhaust Port? Sounds like the Empire got sloppy and overlooked it!" said Sonic.

"But it iz like trying to shoot ze marble!" said Antoine.

"Ah can see your point, Antoine, that's gonna be one hoo-ha of a shot," said Bunnie.

"But like the General said, the approach is gonna be tough, if the Empire finds out we're targeting that, they'll start concentrating their defenses on that spot, making it real hard," said Rotor.

"So what? As long as I get to fight that thing, that's good enough for me!" said Knuckles.

"Yeah, it's gonna be a tough one, but nothing impossible," said Jericho.

"Tough shots? We've managed to make tough shots before and triumphed! Sonic is unstoppable!" said Amy.

Amy winked and batted her eyelashes at Sonic, making him visibly uncomfortable.

"Don't get too overconfident, Amy. If we're gonna go up there, we're gonna need lessons in Starfighter combat. We've never flown them in combat before," said Sally.

"She's right, this is the big leagues, it's no longer just Robotnik and his droids, but also the Imperial war machine. Which means, it's time to hit the simulators," said Derek.

"He's right, you guys need a crash course in Starfighters, and it's quite a chore. You'll also need to be fitted for spacesuits," said Jericho.

"I've flown plenty of craft like that before! I wanna get into action!" said Sonic.

"Too bad, boy, you need to be ready for what's up there, and you'll need to know what you're doing in the cold vacuum of space," said Geoffrey.

"Dying in space is no fun, Sonic, either by exploding Starfighter, or by space itself. Not even you are fast enough to outrun having no air," said Seraphine.

"She's right Sonic, we have little time to get ready, and we need every minute of it. Would you rather crash on takeoff?" said Sally.

"Hmmm…you make a valid point, I'll give you that one," said Sonic.

"Then follow us to the simulators, we got some practicing to do," said Geoffrey.

"Let's go, people! War waits for nobody!" said Jericho.

Meanwhile, the Death Star begun entering its orbit around Yavin.

 _"Orbiting the planet at maximum velocity. The moon with the Rebel Base will be in range in thirty minutes,"_ said an operator.

The display was now showing a countdown until Yavin IV was in range.

"This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Kenobi, and will soon see the end of the Rebellion," said Vader.

"And the end of that hated Hedgehog and his band!" said Robotnik.

 _"All pilots man your stations,"_ said a voice over the base PA.

Sonic and the Freedom Fighters entered the hangar wearing their new flight suits and holding specially fitted helmets.

"Real short training session, but way past cool nonetheless," said Sonic.

"Sonic, you couldn't stop showboating at every chance you got!" said Amy.

"Yeah! Those were some of my kills!" said Knuckles.

"You guys were too slow! Besides, I told you I had early experience!" said Sonic.

"Showboating is what's gonna get you killed, boy, I suggest you remember one thing," said Geoffrey.

"I know, if I die, I die. I don't miraculously regenerate out of thin air like I do in all my games when I have a life left," said Sonic.

Everyone looked at Sonic awkwardly.

"I'm not even gonna question that anymore, but exactly," said Geoffrey.

"Relax, St. Jerk, I'll be fine, I won't break any of the Rebellion's precious toys," said Sonic.

Geoffrey sniffed and rolled his eyes as the Freedom Fighters headed for their ships. Sonic approached his assigned X-Wing Starfighter and rubbed the underside of the wing. Tails, meanwhile, saw his assigned Y-Wing Starfighter and geeked out.

"Oh man, this is gonna be so awesome!" said Tails.

Sonic chuckled a bit and gave Tails a "noogie."

"Be careful up there, bud, it's just like they said, this is gonna be a real battle, unlike the stuff we did back home. At least these things are more up to spec than that air jalopy Sally and Rotor built from scratch. And Tails, you know I'm counting on you to watch my back on this one. You watch my back, I'll watch yours, okay? I got a bad feeling…" said Sonic.

"You got it, Sonic! You know I always do! I can fly anything that's given to me," said Tails.

"Sonic's right about one thing, Tails, this battle station is gonna be one of our biggest challenges yet. Let's focus on surviving this and hopefully take that thing down before…"

Sally shivered in remembrance of Alderaan.

"Yeah. Or this planet and probably more, like Mobius, could end up in pieces like Alderaan," said Sonic.

Meanwhile, Jericho & Dayton approached Derek.

"You sure you're up for this, Derek? You don't usually fly fighters in combat that much," said Jericho.

"It's not like I haven't piloted before. Simulators aside, how bad can it be? Besides, I'm not gonna sit this one out. If we succeed, we can get them back for Alderaan," said Derek.

"In a way," said Dayton.

Jericho then turned to glare at Seraphine, who also was wearing a flight suit and doing pre-flight checks on an X-Wing.

"I still cannot believe she convinced the bosses into letting her fly with us," he said.

"I'd rather have just left her on that station to become space dust," said Geoffrey.

"Well, the Rebellion needs every able pilot for this one, and she volunteered," said Derek.

"I didn't take two hundred and fifty credits worth of flying lessons just to sit on my tail all day, guys. I'm fighting the good fight here, and becoming the envy of everyone I know," said Seraphine.

"Just keep out of my way, mercy-giver," said Jericho.

Knuckles walked up to the Y-Wing he was going to fly, and turned to the technician installing an R5 into the ship's droid slot.

"Look at this thing…it looks a little rough around the edges," he said.

"These things run real clean and get the job done, sir, that's all they need to do," said the technician.

"He's right, Knuckles, even in their cobbled together and stripped of hull plating state, these Y-Wings can still be tougher than you sometimes," said Dayton.

"Hey! I resent that!" said Knuckles.

Knuckles then climbed up into his cockpit and saw the R5 unit.

"Whirr boop beep, whirr," said the R5.

"Hi, no, this is my first time piloting an actual Starfighter. It's not like the speeders I used to fly. But I did alright in the short training session, so let's hope my luck holds," said Knuckles.

"Ah'm sho we'll all be fine, right R5?" said Bunnie.

"Whirr boop," said Bunnie's R5.

Bunnie put on her helmet and climbed into her Y-Wing cockpit, meanwhile, Antoine was standing next to his X-Wing, breathing deeply.

"Moi is capable of doing this, have flown through real battles before…" he said.

"You okay, Antoine? You've flown speeders back home in the thick of battle, what are you breathing like that for?" said Rotor.

"Somezing my fathair has taught moi before going into ze battle, but zis is ze first one in ze vastness of space eternal, so I am trying not to be ze cowardly craven," said Antoine.

"'Craven Coward,' Antoine. All we gotta do is watch each othahs backs and try to survive it, we'll live to fight another day," said Bunnie.

"Yes, yes, you are right, Bunnie," said Antoine.

As Antoine climbed into his X-Wing, Milena approached Jericho and Dayton before they boarded their fighters.

"You two be careful up there," she said.

"We will. Just relax, sis," said Jericho.

"It's what we're trained for. You're just lucky you're not the one who may potentially die," said Dayton.

"I dunno what I'd do if either one of you died," said Milena.

"Don't worry, ice queen. I'll make sure these two come home safe and sound," said Derek.

"You be careful up there too, Derek. It'll get a little lonelier if you don't come back either," said Milena.

"Lonely, huh? That's a good sign," said Derek.

"Of what?" said Milena.

"You melting all inside, I should go into battle more often, if that's what it takes," said Derek.

Milena rolled her eyes. Cream and Cheese stood below Amy's X-Wing as she prepared to climb aboard.

"Be careful and be safe, Miss Amy," said Cream.

"Chao, Chao," said Cheese.

"I'll be fine, Cream. I'll be back before you know it!" said Amy.

Amy hugged Cream and Cheese one more time before she climbed up into her X-Wing cockpit.

"Remember Sonic, no fancy stuff up there, that's the kind of thing that will get you killed," said Jericho.

"Oh relax, will ya? When we do well on a mission, I'm as straight as an arrow!" said Sonic.

Sally rolled her eyes.

"That would be a first," she said.

"What's that supposed to mean, Sal?" said Sonic.

"You actually following the plan. We gotta make a good impression on these people, Sonic, they're our best chance of survival right now," she said.

"We won't get that chance if we don't stop that station, so there's that. And I'm looking forward to taking the fight to that thing. So let's get going!" said Sonic.

"For once, he makes sense. C'mon people, let's get up there!" said Geoffrey.

Sonic and Sally climbed into their X-Wings and put on their helmets.

Sally took NICOLE's handheld unit and placed it on a mount inside the cockpit of her X-Wing, and plugged her into one of the sockets.

"Ready, NICOLE?" she said.

 _"Ready, Sally. I will sync myself up with this vessel's sensor systems, I will provide tactical assistance as necessary. I will also begin calculations for an attack on the exhaust port,"_ said NICOLE.

"Good. Calculate every possibility, we may only get one shot at this," said Sally.

 _"Affirmative, Sally,"_ said NICOLE.

"Good. Now let's get going," said Sally.

Sonic turned to address his R3 unit.

"Ready to do this, R3?" said Sonic.

"Beep bop boop whirr beep," said Sonic's R3.

Sonic read the display to see the translation.

"Yeah, glad you speak my language! Let's go blow us up a giant moon sized station!" he said.

Sonic begun firing up the X-Wing's engines as the technicians begun moving away from his ship, detaching all the ladders and fuel lines. Sonic then begun to lift the X-Wing off the ground, as a ground crewman begun guiding him out of his landing space for takeoff. Sally, Amy, Jericho, Geoffrey, Seraphine, Derek, and Antoine, flying their own X-Wings begun to follow, with Tails, Bunnie, Rotor, Knuckles, and Dayton, flying their Y-Wings, followed suit.


	18. Death Star Surface Attack

**Chapter 18: Death Star Surface Attack**

Cream and Milena joined up with Leia, 3PO, and the other Rebel Personnel in the command center of the base, as they observed the display, which had a very disturbing image. Milena crossed her fingers.

 _"Stand by alert, Death Star approaching. Estimated time to firing range, fifteen minutes."_

Meanwhile, the two Rebel fighter squadrons flew around the planet Yavin as they began their approach towards the massive Death Star.

"All wings, report in," said Red Leader.

 _"Red Ten, standing by."_

 _"Red Seven, standing by."_

"Red Three, standing by," said Biggs.

"Red Six, standing by," said Porkins.

 _"Red Nine, standing by."_

"Red Two, standing by," said Wedge.

 _"Red Eleven, standing by."_

"Red Five, standing by," said Luke.

"Lock S-Foils in attack position," said Red Leader.

The FFs flying X-Wings pulled a lever that opened their ship's S-Foils, as did the rest of Red Squadron. The X-Wings were leading the charge as they begun to shake.

"We're passing through the magnetic field! Hold tight! Switch your deflectors on! Double front!" said Red Leader.

"Stick tight, people! It's gonna get hot and bumpy from here!" said Jericho.

"Ya think?!" said Sonic.

"Look at the size of that thing!" said Wedge.

"Cut the chatter, Red Two; accelerate to attack speed!" said Red Leader.

The X-Wings got closer to the surface of the Death Star.

"This is it, boys!" said Red Leader.

 _"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader,"_ said Gold Leader.

"I copy, Gold Leader," said Red Leader.

 _"We're starting for the target shaft now,"_ said Gold Leader.

"We're in position, I'm gonna cut across the axis and try and draw their fire," said Red Leader.

"Freedom Fighters, attack! Pick your targets and go!" said Sally.

"Let's do it to it!" said Sonic.

The X-Wings begun diving towards the surface of the Death Star; soon, the turbolasers began opening fire on them, but failed to land any hits on the fighters.

"Heavy fire boss, twenty-three degrees!" said Wedge.

"I see it, stay low!" said Red Leader.

"HA! They must go to the same school that taught the Stormtroopers how to shoot! They can't even hit us!" said Sonic.

"Don't get cocky, Red Thirteen!" said Red Leader.

Luke maneuvered his X-Wing over a section of the Death Star.

"This is Red Five, I'm going in," he said.

Luke fired a volley of cannons on the surface of the Death Star, causing damage to several of the guns on the surface.

"Luke, pull up!" said Biggs.

Luke begun pulling up to avoid crashing into the surface of the Death Star, to avoid more turbolasers.

"Are you alright?!" said Biggs.

"I got a little cooked, but I'm okay," said Luke.

"Tails, Knuckles, Amy, on me! Let's blast some turrets!" said Sonic.

"We're with you, Sonic!" said Tails.

"Never thought you'd ask!" said Knuckles.

Sonic and Amy's X-Wings joined with Tails' & Knuckles' Y-Wings as they formed up in line, and when they got into position, they opened fire on the surface of the Death Star, destroying several of the Turbolasers while dodging several others trying to draw a bead of them.

"TAKE THAT, BUCKETHEADS!" said Amy.

"Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, on me, let's do the same!" said Sally.

"Got it, Sal!" said Rotor.

"Lead the charge, Sally-girl!" said Bunnie.

"Let us be blowing some stuff up!" said Antoine.

Just as with Sonic's group, Sally's group opened fire on the surface, taking out more of the Turbolasers.

Meanwhile, inside the Death Star, an officer approached Darth Vader.

"We count thirty Rebel ships, Lord Vader. But they're so small, they're evading our turbolasers!"

"We'll have to destroy them ship-to-ship. Get the crews to their fighters," said Darth Vader.

The officer nodded and rushed off.

Meanwhile, the Rebel Fighters were still engaged with the Turbolasers.

"Watch yourself! There's a lotta fire coming from the right side of those deflection towers!" said Red Leader.

"I'm on it," said Luke.

"I'm going in, cover me, Porkins," said Biggs.

"I'm right with you, Red Three," said Porkins.

Biggs and Porkins volley fired at one of the Deflection Towers, obliterating it.

"I got a problem here," said Porkins.

"Eject," said Biggs.

"I can hold it!" said Porkins.

"Pull up!" said Biggs.

"No, I'm all-RIIIGGGGHT-AAAGGGGHHHH!"

Porkins' X-Wing exploded as it got struck by a Turbolaser shot.

"Red Six is down! Red Six is down!" said Dayton.

"Well, let's hit them harder, then! Cover me!" said Jericho.

"Hitting them harder, then!" said Seraphine.

Jericho, Derek, Seraphine, and Geoffrey's X-Wings, joined by Dayton's Y-Wing, begun strafing the turbolasers that got Porkins, obliterating several batteries worth.

"Does that hurt yet? HUH?!" said Dayton.

"It had better, for what this thing can do!" said Geoffrey.

"Considering they blew up a whole peaceful planet, they'll get no courtesy from us!" said Derek.

Sonic eyed another Deflection tower.

"C'mon, guys, let's do our part and hit them a little harder too!" said Sonic.

"Got it, Sonic! Let's do it!" said Tails.

"I could use more target practice anyway!" said Knuckles.

"Just say the word, darling!" said Amy.

Sonic's group dove towards the Deflection tower and begun their strafing run, obliterating several turbolasers around the tower, before finally destroying the tower itself.

"Amy, good shooting!" said Sonic.

"You'll owe me a date for this!" said Amy.

"Wait, why do I owe you a date for blowing up a tower?" said Sonic.

"I'm all for this target practice, but until someone gets a shot at that exhaust port, we're just bees stinging a bantha here," said Seraphine.

"Yeah, she's got a point there," said Derek.

 _"Squad leaders, we've picked up a new group of signals. Enemy fighters, coming your way,"_ said a Rebel officer.

"Fighters? Where?" said Amy.

"What fighters? I don't see anyone!" said Sonic.

"My scope's negative, I don't see anything!" said Luke.

"Pick up your visual scanning! Here they come!" said Red Leader.

Sure enough, a whole squadron of TIE Fighters came screaming towards the Rebels, ready to fight.

"Careful guys! These aren't poorly programmed droids at the controls here!" said Jericho.

"Watch it, Seraphine, above you!" said Geoffrey.

"I see him!" she said.

Seraphine maneuvered to dodge the TIE's cannon fire, but was finding difficulty shaking the TIE off, but Geoffrey, flying in from above, fired on the TIE, clipping off a wing and causing it to careen towards the Death Star's surface and crash.

"Could have got him, you know! Rotor, Bunnie! Above you!" said Seraphine.

"Heads up, sugah!" said Bunnie.

"I know! I KNOW!" said Rotor.

The two of them swerved their Y-Wings to avoid being shot up by the TIEs, but Rotor took two direct hits.

"Rotor?! You okay?" said Sonic.

"I'm fine! Shields still holding, but I'm okay," said Rotor.

Antoine flew his X-Wing to intercept the TIE Fighters chasing Bunnie & Rotor.

"You will get away from my friends you Fighters of TIEs!" said Antoine.

He fired several shots at the TIE Fighters, one of which was a direct hit on one, and another clipped it, causing it to lose control and crash into another.

"Thanks, sugah!" said Bunnie.

"Mentioning it, you will not be needing to, mon ami!" said Antoine.

"Hey! Little help here!" said Knuckles.

"I got him, Knuckles!" said Tails.

Tails flew down towards Knuckles and the TIE chasing him, and begun opening fire, scoring a direct hit on the TIE.

"Gotcha!" said Tails.

Aboard the Death Star, Darth Vader approached two Imperial Pilots.

"Several fighters have broken off from the main group. Come with me," he said.

Vader and the pilots begun walking towards a hangar. Nearby, Dr. Robotnik had an idea of his own, pulling out his comlink.

"Snively! Snivley you'd better come in now, or I'll send you into space in a fighter against those Rebel Scum!"

 _"Y-yes, sir?"_ said Snively.

"Meet me in hangar bay nineteen as soon as possible. Lord Vader is joining our fighter squadrons out there, and I think it's time we redeem ourselves by providing support with our new toy."

 _"I shall prepare it at once, sir,"_ said Snively.

"C'mon! Hold still, will ya?!" said Sonic.

Sonic was chasing down one of the TIE Fighters, missing with every shot.

"GRRR! HOLD STILL!" he said.

He fired again, but one of his shots only grazed the TIE Fighter. He fired yet again, this time, it was a direct hit, destroying the TIE Fighter.

"Yeah! Scratch one TIE Fighter!" he said.

But Sonic's joy was interrupted by being shot at by another one.

"What the-! Oh, hello…LITTLE HELP HERE PLEASE!" said Sonic.

Amy saw Sonic was in trouble.

"Sonic, when I say 'pull up', PULL UP!" she said.

Amy lined up for a shot, the only thing in her sight was Sonic blocking the shot.

"PULL UP!"

Sonic pulled up, and within seconds, Amy fired, blowing up the TIE.

"Now we're even!" said Sonic.

"Nope, you owe me two dates now!" said Amy.

"Wait, how do I owe you dates for blowing stuff up? Seriously?" said Sonic.

 _"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader, we're starting our attack run,"_ said Gold Leader.

"I copy, Gold Leader, move into position," said Red Leader.

"You hear that, guys? Keep any reinforcements away, we don't have a lot of shots at this!" said Geoffrey.

 _"Five minutes until the Death Star is in range,"_ said NICOLE.

"I can't believe that was even ten minutes!" said Sonic.

"Dayton! Got two on your tail!" said Jericho.

"I see one of them, where is the-Wait! I see the other! I'm not getting away from them!" said Dayton.

"Hang on, I'm on them!" said Sally.

Dayton swerved hard as he could with his Y-Wing to avoid being shot up, but soon, the TIEs begun opening fire, as they disappeared from sight

"They're firing! DAYTON!" said Jericho.

For a moment, there was nothing but static from Dayton's Y-Wing, as Sally swerved to try and shoot down the TIEs, but there were a few explosions that followed before she could land any shots, Jericho's hands tightened their grip on his control stick, but soon, after what seemed like a minute of static, Dayton emerged, intact.

"I'm still here, I'm okay," said Dayton.

Jericho sighed in relief.

"Don't scare me like that, okay?" said Jericho.

Dayton rolled his eyes as he rejoined the formation.

 _"Gold Squadron's attack run has just failed, Sally. They were intercepted by what appears to be a prototype TIE fighter,"_ said NICOLE.

"Prototype?" said Sally.

 _"Affirmative, Sally. And there is less than three minutes until the Death Star is in range of the base,"_ said NICOLE.

"Red boys, this is Red Leader, rendezvous at Mark six-point-one," said Red Leader.

"This is Red Two, flying towards you," said Wedge.

"Red Three, standing by," said Biggs.

 _"Red Leader, this is Base one, keep half your group out of range for the next run,"_ said General Dodonna.

"Copy base one, Luke, take Red Two and Three. Hold up here and wait for my signal to start your run. Sonic, take the rest of your people and maintain defense against further reinforcements, be ready to make your run if necessary," said Red Leader.

The FFs watched as three X-Wings flew towards the trench.

"Second wave of TIEs incoming!" said Sally.

"At least that'll keep us busy!" said Sonic.

"Funny, I'm expecting a whole lot more here, they gotta have a whole armada of these things aboard this station, why just these guys?" said Seraphine.

"Imperial arrogance at its finest," said Jericho.

"Amy, y'all got four of 'em on ya!" said Bunnie.

"Ah! Get these guys off me! They're trying to box me in!" said Amy.

Sonic and Tails swerved down to engage the TIEs, Sonic clipped one of them and landed a direct hit on the other as he let loose a volley of blaster fire. Tails did the same, landing two direct hits on the other two TIEs.

"Thanks guys, now we're even."

"Don't mention it!" said Sonic.

"Those same three TIEs just entered the trench!" said Knuckles.

"Damn it, at the rate we're going, this thing is gonna blow us up faster than we can blow it up!" said Geoffrey.

"We've come too far and lost too many to retreat now, Commander! You wanna desert this fight, be my guest!" said Dayton.

"I ain't deserting, Lt. Commander! Unless the featherhead here wants to do the same?!" said Geoffrey.

"I'm not deserting either! We got a job to do!" said Derek.

"Above you, Mercy giver!" said Jericho.

Seraphine looked up and saw a TIE flying towards her, but Jericho, already in a good firing position, lined up a shot and took it, not even waiting for time for his targeting computer to lock on a firing solution.

"I could have had him, you know!" she said.

"You're welcome, you know!" said Jericho.

"Behind you, boy scout!" said Seraphine.

But before Jericho could check his sensors, Seraphine already took out a TIE lining up for a shot on his tail.

"You were saying?" she said.

"Sonic, more on your tail!" said Sally.

"Not again! COME ON!" said Sonic.

"These guys aren't droids, you know, Sonic!" said Sally.

"I can see that! GET THEM OFF ME, RIGHT NOW! PLEASE?!" said Sonic.

Sally lined up her X-Wing and got a lock-on with her targeting computer and begun taking out the TIEs chasing Sonic, giving Sonic a gap to break free and help her take them out.

"It's away!" said Red Leader.

Red Leader pulled out of the trench having fired a salvo of Proton Torpedoes at the Exhaust Port, but a large explosion soon followed.

 _"It's a hit!"_

"Negative, negative, it didn't go in. It just impacted on the surface," said Red Leader.

"OH COME ON!" said Sonic.

"Is it that hard to hit a small hole on the side of a battle station? COME ON!" said Knuckles.

But suddenly, Darth Vader's TIE Fighter appeared from the trench and begun chasing Red Leader.

"Red Leader, we're right above you, turn to point oh-five, we'll cover for you!" said Luke.

"Stay there, I just lost my starboard engine! Get set up for your attack run!" said Red Leader.

But suddenly, Vader opened fire on Red Leader again, striking his remaining engines, and his X-Wing begun to plummet towards the surface. Red Leader screamed as he smashed into the Death Star's surface.

"We just lost Red Leader," said Jericho.

"Confirmed," said Dayton.

 _"One minute until Death Star is in range,"_ said NICOLE.

"Sounds like this is our last chance to get a shot," said Sally.

"Okay, everyone, let's close it up. We're going in, and we're going in full throttle, that ought to keep those fighters off our back," said Luke.

"Right with you, boss," said Wedge.

Sally thought for a moment, she then turned to Sonic.

"Sonic, you stick on my wing. The rest of you, hang back," said Sally.

"What do you mean, hang back?" said Jericho.

"Yeah, we need every shot of torpedo we can get at that Exhaust Port!" said Rotor.

"It's gonna be real tight down there, guys, I can't have you all crowding together, you'll be sitting ducks for those fighters. Besides…I need someone to survive in case we don't make it," said Sally.

"Moi princess…" said Antoine.

"All right, then. Good luck down there," said Geoffrey.

"Just be careful down there!" said Amy.

"We will," said Sonic.

"We'll keep watch on you from up here, good luck," said Dayton.

Sally & Sonic flew to join up with Luke, Biggs, and Wedge.

"Luke, at that speed, will you be able to pull out in time?" said Biggs.

"It'll be just like Beggar's Canyon back home!" said Luke.

They began piloting their X-Wings down into the trench to make their run.


	19. Death Star Trench Run

**Chapter 19: Death Star Trench Run**

The turrets fired volleys upon volleys of blaster fire at the X-Wings as they began flying into the trench to start their run. Luke took the lead, with Sonic, Sally, Biggs, and Wedge keeping pace with him. Sonic was in delight.

"Yeah! Finally, we get to see how fast these things can go! WOOHOOO!"

"Just remember not to get shot up by those turrets, okay, Sonic?" said Sally.

"You worry too much, Sal! These guys couldn't hit a bug!" said Sonic.

"We'll stay back far enough to cover you," said Biggs.

"My scopes show the towers, but I can't see the exhaust port. You sure the computer can hit it?" said Wedge.

"NICOLE, do we have a firing solution for the Exhaust Port?" said Sally.

 _"Working, Sally. I am afraid that a firing solution will prove difficult, based off my current calculations,"_ said NICOLE.

"Keep trying. We only got one more shot at this," said Sally.

"Watch yourself! Increase speed; full throttle," said Luke.

"What about that tower?" said Wedge.

"You worry about those fighters! I'll worry about the towers!" said Luke.

The X-Wings continued their flight towards the exhaust port, with cannon fire all around.

"It's really hard to maneuver down here, Sonic. Don't take any chances here, focus on the objective," said Sally.

"You think I don't know that, Sal? We're gonna blow this giant moon to smithereens! And nobody is gonna stop us now!" said Sonic.

"R2, that…that stabilizer's broken loose again, see if you can't lock it down!" said Luke.

"Beep, whistle, whistle, beep," said R2.

Suddenly, the cannon fire stopped.

"The guns! They've stopped shooting!" said Sonic.

"That's not a good sign," said Sally.

"Hey, guys, it's Tails! You guys got company closing fast on your position!"

On Tails' cue, everyone looked back, and there was Darth Vader and his two escorts, closing fast on them.

"Fighters, coming at point three!" said Wedge.

"And…he ain't alone, friends," said Geoffrey.

A dark shadow then begun looming over the X-Wings. Sonic's jaw dropped.

"Holy…"

"Surprise, rodent! HAHAHAHA!" said Dr. Robotnik over the radio.

Robotnik was aboard what appeared to be a massive gunship, with Snively piloting it. Sally looked towards Sonic, and then towards Luke.

"Robotnik! Luke, Biggs, Wedge, keep going, we'll deal with him! GO!" she said.

"All right, good luck!" said Luke.

Luke, Biggs, and Wedge flew ahead, past Robotnik's gunship, but soon, Vader and his two escorts overtook Sonic and Sally and flew after them, leaving the two alone to contend with Robotnik.

"You caused me great embarrassment, filthy rat! I finally have a chance to clean up my mistake!" said Robotnik.

"Time to die, rodent!" said Snively.

"Not if I turn you into space dust first, Robuttnik!" said Sonic.

"Time to demonstrate our special weapon, Snively!" said Robotnik.

"Commencing fire now, sir," said Snively.

"Sonic, there's some kind of dual-directional cannon on that thing! LOOK OUT!" said Sally.

"Taking evasive action!" said Sonic.

The energy cannon by then, had charged up and fired a massive beam at Sonic and Sally, as they swerved to avoid being hit.

"Watch the trench walls!" said Sally.

"I'm tryin', Sal! But it's like trying to dodge a laser in a box!" said Sonic.

Soon, the cannon stopped firing to cool down, and Robotnik begun firing the rear-facing blaster cannons at the two X-Wings.

"Hit him back!" said Sally.

She and Sonic fired back at Robotnik, but they failed to land any direct hits on the gunship.

"I'm sorry, are you trying to damage me? My shields are state of the art! You can't make a dent on me! HOHOHOHOHO!" said Robotnik.

"He's right, Sonic, we gotta find some way past those shields and do some damage! We don't have much time left!" said Sally.

"I'm all for some ideas here, Sal! ANYTHING!" said Sonic.

"Main cannon charged, sir," said Snively.

"Blast those annoying pests, Snively!" said Robotnik.

The cannon charged and fired again, and Sonic barely slid out of the way, between the cannon fire and the numerous structures lining the trench itself. Sally was forced to roll around the beam to avoid being hit, but almost hit the side of the trench.

"NICOLE, scan that thing, we need options here!" said Sally.

 _"Scanning, Sally. Energy output requires massive power generation. Weakness possible. Evaluating…"_ said NICOLE.

"Say that again, NICOLE? I'm barely surviving here!" said Sonic.

Sonic continued dodging Robotnik's cannon fire as his tone indicated hopeful desperation.

 _"Evaluation complete. Two power couplings on the sides of the cannon are exposed when arming to fire. The cannon appears to temporarily drain the shields, but only for a moment,"_ said NICOLE.

"We probably won't be able to get them both in one go," said Sally.

"Attack its weak point for massive damage, huh? Classic Buttink. Then we need to work together, Sal!" said Sonic.

"Snively, charge the cannon faster! We got a perfect opening!" said Robotnik.

Sally thought for a moment, and then took a deep breath.

"Sonic, I'm gonna draw Robotnik's fire for you, that'll give you an opening to take out one of the couplings. That's the only way one of us can get a shot," said Sally.

"But you're in danger of getting hit by that cannon, Sal! I'm not losing you again after I just got you back, Sal!" said Sonic.

"SONIC, JUST TRUST ME AND DO IT!" said Sally.

"Ah, the Princess is wide open…time to exterminate her…. just a few more seconds…" said Robotnik.

Sonic slowly positioned himself to attack as he lined up his shot. Soon, the cannon prepared to fire, and the shields went down. Sonic then pulled the trigger on his control stick, firing a volley of shots into the power coupling, causing it to explode and interrupting the shot, and the gunship staggered. Sonic gleefully smiled, but then noticed his targeting computer wasn't active. But Sonic's surprise was interrupted as he swerved to avoid more obstacles in the trench.

"RRRRAGGGGHHHH! YOU DAMAGED ME YOU HORRID LITTLE HEDGEHOG! SNIVELY! Damage report!" said Robotnik.

"We've suffered a massive power surge, sir, one of the power couplings was hit. Our shields are down,"

"WHAT?! Out of my way! I will shoot those annoying pests down myself! GET THE CANNON ONLINE BEFORE I THROW YOU INTO IT!" said Robotnik.

Robotnik shoved Snively away, and took control of the blasters, firing wildly at Sonic and Sally.

"Thirty Seconds until the Death Star is in range," said Jericho.

"Sal, we're running out of time here!" said Sonic.

"One more coupling left, just gimme one-"

But suddenly, Robotnik's blaster fire struck Sally's X-Wing and caused massive power surges throughout her ship. Sally covered herself, trying to keep control of her ship, but suddenly, the power surges coursed through NICOLE's handheld unit, and it suddenly exploded in Sally's face.

"Sal, you okay?! Sal?! SAL!"

Sonic was horrified as he continued dodging Robotnik's fire. Sally coughed.

"Sonic, I'm hit…. I lost NICOLE!"

"Oh no! NO! You've crossed the line big time, Robuttnik! Sal, get ready! I'll do it this time!"

Sally, torn between shock and anger, tightened her grip on her control stick as Robotnik readied to fire, and Sonic got into a position that Robotnik noticed. Robotnik then trained his cannon on Sonic.

"I have you now, Hedgehog!"

Sonic grinned as Robotnik fired another shot from his main energy cannon, but Sally fired a volley with incredible ferocity at the remaining power coupling, which then exploded. Robotnik's gunship staggered and begun to swerve dangerously from side to side, fishtailing and swerving violently.

"We're losing the stabilizers, sir!" said Snively.

"What?! NO!" said Robotnik.

The two of them pressed buttons and turned levers to try and regain control, but nothing did any good as they sideswiped the trench wall, hitting a protruding wall, causing the gunship to be knocked into a spin and fly out of the trench.

"GAAAAAHHHHHH! I HATE THAT HEDGEHOGGGGGGgggggg…."

Robotnik's gunship then disappeared against the stars as Sonic waved.

"Great shot, Sal! Scratch one Robuttnik!"

"Thanks…. Sonic…"

Sally had just noticed that she hadn't turned on her targeting computer when she made that shot, leaving her bewildered. But suddenly, ahead, they saw Vader's TIE Advanced fire at Luke's X-Wing, hitting R2.

"Oh no! Luke!" said Sally.

"I've lost R2!" said Luke.

"Guys, I hope one of you is ready to make that shot! Cause the Death Star is in range!" said Derek.

"We'll need a miracle shot here!" said Jericho.

Sonic and Sally raced to try and catch up with Luke, but they couldn't push their X-Wings any faster.

"I'm detecting energy buildup! The Superlaser is charging for a shot!" said Tails.

"OH NO! WE ARE ALL DOOMED!" said Antoine.

"C'mon, Sonic! You're almost in range of that TIE, you can get him!" said Knuckles.

Sonic then froze up as he didn't even try to line up the shot as he closed in.

"SONIC! You're almost in a perfect position! SHOOT HIM!" said Amy.

"Luke's gonna get killed!" said Seraphine.

But soon, Vader had a lock on Luke and prepared to fire.

"I have you now!" said Vader.

But suddenly, one of Vader's TIE Fighter escorts was destroyed by cannon fire.

"Wait! Who fired?!" said Sally.

"Look! Up there!" said Tails.

Vader was bewildered by the sudden attack as well.

"WHAT?!" he said.

"YAHOOO!"

The FFs looked up, and there was Han and Chewie, aboard the _Millennium Falcon_ , flying in.

"LOOK OUT!"

The remaining TIE escort clipped one of Vader's wings and sent him spinning out of the trench, while the escort crashed into the trench walls. Vader was left spinning away uncontrollably. Sonic waved.

"Bye bye!" said Sonic.

"Nice timing, boys!" said Seraphine.

"You're all clear, kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home!" said Han.

Luke gathered all his focus and without even using his targeting computer, fired two Proton Torpedoes, which went into the Exhaust Port. He, Sonic, and Sally then exited the trench to rejoin their allies.

"It's a hit! Let's juice!" said Sonic.

The Rebels and Freedom Fighters flew away from the Death Star as fast as they could, and soon, it exploded in a spectacular fashion, leaving nothing but burning remains. The Freedom Fighters smiled with glee as they were now unable to contain the excitement of having accomplished their mission.

"Great shot, kid! That was one in a million!" said Han.

"WAY PAST COOL! WE DID IT!" said Sonic.

"WE REALLY DID IT, SONIC!" said Sally.

The Freedom Fighters cheered all the way back to Yavin IV.

By then, Robotnik and Snively had finally regained control of their gunship and were in shock to see the Death Star explode.

"An exhaust port, sir. They got it through a tiny exhaust port," said Snively.

"Snively…. SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!"

Robotnik punched Snively as they prepared for a long flight back home.


	20. A New Hope

**Chapter 20: A New Hope**

Cheers were heard across the hangar bay as Sonic quickly disembarked his X-Wing, seeing everyone gather around Luke's X-Wing to congratulate him. But before Sonic could join in, Sally rushed over to hug Sonic.

"We did it, Sonic! We really did it!" she said.

"WE DID IT!" said Tails.

"Yeah! One Death Star dusted!" said Sonic.

"I can't believe this, Sonic! We really helped destroy that thing!" said Sally.

Milena and Cream came running excitedly towards them.

"That was amazing! Maybe a little too close, but that was still amazing!" Milena said.

Cream and Cheese meanwhile, exchanged hugs with Tails and Amy.

Knuckles raised his fists in the air.

"Now that was more like it!"

"You said it, Knuckles! That was almost difficult!" Sonic said.

Sonic and Knuckles then exchanged a hi-five.

"Yeah! We showed the Empire a thing or two! YEAH!" said Jericho.

"Yeah, For the Rebellion! YEAH!" said Dayton.

As Milena gave her brothers kisses on the cheeks, Derek joined them.

"You see? I told you we'd be fine & in one piece, Milena! So, you can stop worrying, Miss Ice Queen! Say, are you crying?" he said.

"Wha? No, of course not! I wasn't worried, it's…uh…liquid pride, big difference," said Milena.

Jericho then saw Seraphine hold her hand out, expecting a shake.

"Great job up there, boy scout."

Jericho looked at Milena, who nodded, and then he shook Seraphine's hand.

"Yeah…you did fine…Mercy Giver."

"Well, Jericho, looks like that business on Scarif was all worth it," said Geoffrey.

"Indeed it was," said Jericho.

"What business?" said Seraphine.

"That's another story for another time," said Jericho.

"You did great, Mr. Sonic!" said Cream.

"CHAO! CHAO! CHAO! CHAO!" said Cheese.

"Thanks, Cream. You too, Cheese. And I thought the Empire was supposed to be invincible," said Sonic.

Sally then gasped.

"NICOLE!"

Sally pulled NICOLE's damaged handheld, to everyone's horror. The screens were flashing through their damaged displays, and electricity arced from a few spots. Antoine gasped.

"Oh, sacre bleu…Is she…?"

"Oh…ouch," said Knuckles.

Rotor looked at NICOLE's handheld closely.

"It's barely working, I only hope we can still salvage what's left…."

"NICOLE's not the only one…" said Amy.

Everyone looked towards Luke's X-Wing, where the damaged R2 was being lowered.

"Oh my…R2? Can you hear me? Say something! You can repair him, can't you?" said 3PO.

"We'll get to work on him right away," said one of the technicians.

"You must repair him! Sir, if any my circuits or gears will help, I'll gladly donate them!" said 3PO.

"Oh, he'll be alright!" said Luke.

"I'll help!" said Rotor.

"Me too!" said Tails.

"But what about Vader and Robotnik? They escaped. It would have been a sweeter victory if we got them too," said Dayton.

"He's got a point," said Milena.

"I think they got bigger problems now, considering who they have to answer to," said Geoffrey.

He then gave a wink and nod.

"He would be quite right, considering zey will be licking ze wounds," said Antoine.

"And we'll be ready for 'em next time!" said Bunnie.

"Yeah! And Remember on Tatooine when I thought the Empire, Robotnik, & Vader were invincible? I take that all back! Next time they show, there won't be a next time! We'll just ask Han to ambush them again!" said Sonic.

"I doubt it'll be that easy next time, Sonic, but you're right about one thing. The Empire can and will be defeated. Even if it takes us ten more years to do it, we will liberate Mobius, no matter what!" said Sally.

"Yeah! You're right, Sal! But for now, it's time to celebrate!" said Sonic.

The Freedom Fighters then walked out of the hangar.

Later, inside the base audience chamber, the Freedom Fighters stood at attention as they watched Han, Luke, Sonic, Sally, and Chewbacca walk down the aisle past the long lines of Rebel personnel. Soon, the Rebels all turned to face the back of the chamber, as Han, Luke, Sally, and Sonic reached the podium, Leia handed them each their medals. Han got his first, winking at Leia as she put it on, and then Sally, then Sonic, and finally Luke. But soon, 3PO turned and everyone saw R2, fully repaired, walked onto the stage. As he came to a stop, he opened one compartment, revealing a small hard drive, and using his holoprojector, making NICOLE appear, and she bowed. Sally smiled with joy at seeing her best friend was well. Sonic simply winked at NICOLE, as everyone turned to face the audience, which begun to applaud in celebration of their heroic stand against the Empire.

 **The End**


End file.
